Worker Advocacy Group Touts Right to Work on 75th Anniversary of Taft-Hartley Act Passage

Majority of American workers now free from being forced to pay dues just to stay employed, but Big Labor seeks to erase protections nationwide

Washington, DC (June 23, 2022) – Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee and National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, issued the following statement to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Taft-Hartley Act, the federal law codifying the ability of states to enact Right to Work protections for workers:

“For decades, Americans have overwhelmingly agreed with the Right to Work principle that no worker should be forced to join or pay dues to a union just to keep his or her job. As the Taft-Hartley Act, which codified states’ ability to protect this basic freedom for workers reaches its 75th year, America recently reached a significant milestone for worker freedom: As of 2021, the majority of American workers enjoy Right to Work protections.

“Despite the freedom and popularity of Right to Work, Big Labor’s political allies are on a mission to wipe out all 27 state Right to Work laws in the country by federal fiat by eliminating section 14(b) of Taft-Hartley, which ensures states can protect workers from being forced to pay union dues. Union bosses’ current vehicle for doing so, the so-called ‘PRO-Act,’ not only would force millions of additional workers to pay dues or be fired, but also seeks to expand union bosses’ coercive powers in other unprecedented ways, including by authorizing government bureaucrats to impose forced-dues contracts over the objections of both employees and employers.

“But Right to Work is on the move. In the last decade, five new states have passed Right to Work laws, and the Supreme Court recognized in the landmark Janus v. AFSCME case that forcing any public sector worker in America to pay union dues just to work for his or her government is a First Amendment violation. Further, Right to Work states continue to experience job growth far outstripping that of their forced-dues neighbors, demonstrating once again that freedom and prosperity go hand-in-hand.

“Taft-Hartley was passed as an acknowledgement that its predecessor, the Wagner Act, had granted too much coercive power to union bosses, coercion not only directed at employers but also against employees who prefer not to affiliate with a labor union. Today, as we celebrate Taft-Hartley’s protection for state Right to Work laws, we should recognize that it is time to take the next step: All workers deserve Right to Work protections, which is why Congress should pass the National Right to Work Act to eliminate union bosses’ forced dues powers entirely from federal law.”