Union Bosses try to stomp on new Right to Work law

PageLines- michigan-right-to-work-state2.pngFrom the Muskegon Chronicle’s Steve Gunn:

If they can extend their contracts for another two or three years, all their members will remain trapped and paying dues for at least that long.

If the skies suddenly cleared, and union leaders throughout Michigan heard the booming voice of Moses commanding them to “Let my people go!” would it make any difference?

I’m starting to think not. There’s money to be made through union dues, so nobody’s going to gain their freedom until it’s absolutely unavoidable.

Even Moses would be told to chill out and wait until collective bargaining agreements expire.

The simple fact is there are many union members around Michigan who never wanted to be union members in the first place. They joined because it was a prerequisite for securing employment.

That sort of involuntary unionism was supposedly put on the fast track to extinction last month when Gov. Rick Snyder signed the long overdue “right to work” legislation.

As of March 28, nobody in Michigan can be forced to belong to a labor union, or pay any sort of union dues, against their will. Except, of course, in workplaces that still have unexpired collective bargaining agreements. Employees in those unions are stuck until the contracts expire.

Now unions across the state are taking advantage of that loophole and racing to negotiate new collective bargaining agreements, or extensions of their current agreements, before the March deadline. …

Then the unions would never be forced to set anyone free.

This sort of thing is happening in Washtenaw County, where the Board of Commissioners recently approved a resolution condemning right-to-work and instructing county administrators to begin negotiations with their unions ahead of schedule.

The worst part is the weak argument that employees who drop out of their unions, and stop paying any type of dues, would unfairly benefit from wages and benefits gained through collective bargaining. But that’s only because the union was given the exclusive right to represent all employees – union or nonunion – without their consent.

If the unions don’t want these “freeloaders” benefitting from collective bargaining without paying dues, then the union should stop bargaining on their behalf. That sounds fair, doesn’t it?

The bottom line is that nobody in America should be compelled to join – or pay dues to – any organization against their will.