Right to Work in The Daily Caller: “In Wisconsin, Big Labor politicians help make Right to Work case”
Writing in The Daily Caller, Right to Work President Mark Mix explains how Big Labor activism in Wisconsin has dramatized the issue of forced union dues:
. . . millions of Americans are now learning about the bitterness with which union-label politicians are defending their forced dues-funded campaign machines. And now citizens are beginning to understand more clearly than ever before why no union official, whether government or private-sector, should ever have been granted forced-dues privileges in the first place, and why it is absolutely necessary to revoke those privileges in order to clean up our political system.
Thanks to the 14 union-backed Senate Democrats’ attempt to flee the state to deny S.B. 11 proponents a quorum — and the resulting legal battle over the bill — the effort to restore the right to work for most Badger State public employees remains in limbo for now. But the outrageous antics of union-boss politicians like Mr. Hintz and Mr. Danou could prove to be very costly to Big Labor over the long run, and not just in Wisconsin.
Click here to read the whole thing. For more on the Wisconsin labor fight, check out Mix’s recent appearance on Fox News.
Right to Work Foundation Submits FOIA Request to Uncover Extent of National Labor Relations Board’s Google Ads Campaign
Washington, DC (March 21, 2011) – The National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal assistance to employees nationwide, submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), asking for information about a series of Google Ads placed by the NLRB from 2008 to 2011.
According to an earlier NLRB statement, the Board received a free Google Ads trial in 2008 and has since discontinued the program. However, other reports indicate that NLRB Google Ads appeared as recently as February of this year.
Moreover, these ads only contained information about workers’ ability to organize or join unions. No record of ads about workers’ rights to refrain from union activities or remove a union from their workplace has been found.
In the wake of former SEIU lawyer Craig Becker’s recess appointment to the Board, numerous media outlets have questioned the NLRB’s ability to impartially administer labor law.
Unfortunately, the NLRB’s Google Ads campaign does nothing to dispel these fears. Foundation attorneys are concerned that the NLRB’s ad buys publicized information about workers’ rights to organize or join a union without providing equally important information about the rights of employees to refrain from union membership or eject unwanted unions from their workplaces.
The Foundation’s FOIA request seeks all documented business transactions between the Board and Google related to online ad buys. Foundation attorneys believe that this information is necessary to determine the extent of the NLRB’s pro-Big Labor bias and to inform the public of how the Board’s budget is being spent.
“We’ve raised persistent questions about the impartiality of the NLRB that have yet to be addressed, and what looks like a selective information campaign through Google Ads is another example of this trend,” said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director for the National Right to Work Foundation. “We call upon the NLRB to immediately release any and all information related to this ad campaign to address public concerns about its perceived pro-Big Labor bias.”
Study: Forced Unionism Hurts Young Workers The Most
In 2009, The Wall Street Journal observed that workers are fleeing forced-unionism states for better job opportunities with their Right to Work neighbors. Now, a study of U.S. Census Bureau statistics from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research indicates that young workers – a demographic that drives economic growth – overwhelmingly favor Right to Work states to further their career prospects:
Twenty-two states currently have Right to Work laws on the books.3 Unless a state has a Right to Work law, federal law authorizes the imposition of forced union dues and fees on its private-sector employees.
In the 17 non-Western Right to Work states, the aggregate 25-34 year-old population increased from 12.965 million to 14.602 million, or 12.7%, over the past decade. Meanwhile, in the 20 non- Western forced-unionism states, the aggregate 25-34 year-old population fell from 16.807 million to 16.036 million, or 4.6%. Western Right to Work states’ total young-adult population grew by 47.0%, compared to Western non-Right to Work states’ 8.3% increase. Even excluding slow-growth California,Western forced-unionism states’ increase was barely more than half that of Western Right to Work states.
In the midst of a prolonged recession, the Institute’s findings also indicate that the success of Right to Work states provides a critical economic safety valve. By encouraging the creation of more jobs, Right to Work protections provide career opportunities for young employees that otherwise might not have existed.
The case for Right to Work has always rested on the importance of safeguarding individual workers’ rights, but the economic benefits of protecting worker freedom are also self-evident. It’s one more reason why states across the country are now considering Right to Work laws.
Right to Work on Fox News: Why Union Monopoly Bargaining Doesn’t Work for the Public Sector
Last week, Right to Work President Mark Mix sat down with Judge Andrew Napolitano of Fox News to discuss the protests in Wisconsin and the problems of union monopoly bargaining in the public sector. Check out the video below:
Army Wives Driver Wins over $55k in Lost Wages After Teamster Union Boss Blacklisting
Army Wives Driver Wins over $55k in Lost Wages After Teamster Union Boss Blacklisting
Teamster union bosses’ ugly retaliation prevents employee from making a living
Washington, DC (March 17, 2011) – An ABC Studios movie/television driver has won over $55,000 in lost income after Teamster union officials refused to allow him to do his job for nearly a year.
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys helped the driver win the case before a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge in Charleston, South Carolina.
Teamster Local 509 union officials currently enjoy exclusive bargaining privileges with ABC Studios in Charleston – and thus have a monopoly bargaining agreement with ABC that forces workers to go through Teamster Local 509’s hiring hall in order to obtain a job.
However, because Local 509 union members were working on other television and movie productions, Thomas Coghill – who was from Wilmington, North Carolina and a member of Teamster Local 391 – worked on the set of the Charleston-based Army Wives television series. Coghill worked during the show’s first two seasons beginning in 2008 as a makeup truck driver.
However, as more Local 509 union members became available to work on the production of Army Wives, a dispute over who should be eligible to work on the set of Army Wives erupted between various Teamster union officials and Coghill was removed from Local 509’s “Movie Referral List” because he was not a member of Local 509. Meanwhile, Local 509 union members continue to receive preferential treatment in job placement on the set of Army Wives.
Army Wives Driver Wins over $55k in Lost Wages After Teamster Union Boss Blacklisting
Washington, DC (March 17, 2011) – An ABC Studios movie/television driver has won over $55,000 in lost income after Teamster union officials refused to allow him to do his job for nearly a year.
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys helped the driver win the case before a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge in Charleston, South Carolina.
Teamster Local 509 union officials currently enjoy exclusive bargaining privileges with ABC Studios in Charleston – and thus have a monopoly bargaining agreement with ABC that forces workers to go through Teamster Local 509’s hiring hall in order to obtain a job.
However, because Local 509 union members were working on other television and movie productions, Thomas Coghill – who was from Wilmington, North Carolina and a member of Teamster Local 391 – worked on the set of the Charleston-based Army Wives television series. Coghill worked during the show’s first two seasons beginning in 2008 as a makeup truck driver.
However, as more Local 509 union members became available to work on the production of Army Wives, a dispute over who should be eligible to work on the set of Army Wives erupted between various Teamster union officials and Coghill was removed from Local 509’s “Movie Referral List” because he was not a member of Local 509. Meanwhile, Local 509 union members continue to receive preferential treatment in job placement on the set of Army Wives.
Federal law prohibits union bosses who operate an exclusive union hiring hall from barring employees who are not a member of that union from gaining employment at a workplace.
With free legal assistance from the National Right Work Foundation, Coghill pursued federal unfair labor practice charges against the Teamster Local 509 union bosses’ discrimination. A regional NLRB administrative law judge ruled in Coghill’s favor late last week, and ordered the Teamster Local 509 union hierarchy to pay Coghill $55,467.62 in lost wages (plus interest) and post a notice of employees’ rights in the workplace.
“In this tough economy, it is unconscionable that Teamster Local 509 union bosses would inflict such petty and disgusting discrimination on someone working to put food on the table” said Patrick Semmens, National Right to Work Foundation legal information director. “To prevent these types of ugly forced unionism abuses from occurring in the future, entertainment industry union bosses should be stripped of their government-granted special privileges to force workers under union boss control in order to get or keep a job.”
Wisconsin AFSCME Union Bosses Face Federal Charges for Illegally Seizing Forced Dues for Politics
Wisconsin AFSCME Union Bosses Face Federal Charges for Illegally Seizing Forced Dues for Politics
Wisconsin needs Right to Work law to protect workers from forced unionism abuses
Milwaukee, WI (March 16, 2011) – A U.S. Bank customer service and support employee has filed federal charges against a local union after local union officials illegally attempted to force him and his colleagues into full-dues-paying union membership.
Peter Quinones of Milwaukee filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Tuesday with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
After American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 777 union officials were granted monopoly bargaining privileges over approximately 300 U.S. Bank employees, Quinones sent a letter to union officials stating that he was exercising his right under National Right to Work Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck to refrain from full dues paying union membership.
Because Wisconsin is a forced unionism state, workers who refrain from formal union membership can still be forced to pay a certain amount of union dues, but cannot be compelled to pay the portion of union dues used for the union’s political, lobbying, and member-only activities.
Despite his letter, AFSCME Local 777 union officials continued to extract full union dues from his paycheck. After Quinones filed an unfair labor practice charge, union officials still refused to honor his request to exercise his legal rights.
Wisconsin AFSCME Union Bosses Face Federal Charges for Illegally Seizing Forced Dues for Politics
Milwaukee, WI (March 16, 2011) – A U.S. Bank customer service and support employee has filed federal charges against a local union after local union officials illegally attempted to force him and his colleagues into full-dues-paying union membership.
Peter Quinones of Milwaukee filed the charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Tuesday with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
After American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 777 union officials were granted monopoly bargaining privileges over approximately 300 U.S. Bank employees, Quinones sent a letter to union officials stating that he was exercising his right under National Right to Work Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent in Communication Workers v. Beck to refrain from full dues paying union membership.
Because Wisconsin is a forced unionism state, workers who refrain from formal union membership can still be forced to pay a certain amount of union dues, but cannot be compelled to pay the portion of union dues used for the union’s political, lobbying, and member-only activities.
Despite his letter, AFSCME Local 777 union officials continued to extract full union dues from his paycheck. After Quinones filed an unfair labor practice charge, union officials still refused to honor his request to exercise his legal rights.
Quinones’ latest charge seeks to prevent the AFSCME union hierarchy from requiring him to pay forced union fees by automatic deduction from his paycheck in violation of federal law.
“As we have seen in recent weeks, AFSCME union officials will stop at nothing to collect forced union dues from workers – whether they are in the public or private sector – to pay for their political activism,” said Patrick Semmens, National Right to Work Foundation legal information director. “Wisconsin’s workers desperately need Right to Work protections to protect them from the very union bosses that claim to care about workers’ rights while violating workers’ rights.”
If enacted, a Wisconsin Right to Work law would end compulsory union dues by making union membership and dues payment strictly voluntary. Polls consistently show that 8 in 10 Americans support the Right to Work principle, that no worker should be compelled to join a union or pay union dues to get or keep a job. Twenty-two states have already passed Right to Work protections for their workers.
Right to Work in the News: The Case for Free Choice in the Workplace
With public attention being paid to state battles over union boss powers, Right to Work proposals have received plenty of attention from national publications. In The Washington Examiner, Right to Work President Mark Mix explains that states are turning to Right to Work laws to jump-start their troubled economies and safeguard workers’ rights:
The logic of state Right-to-Work laws is ironclad: Not only is safeguarding worker freedom the right thing to do,it also yields tremendous economic benefits. Recent studies from the Cato Institute and the National Institute for Labor Relations Research suggest that Right-to-Work states enjoy higher job growth and more cost-of-living-adjusted disposable income for workers than their forced-unionism counterparts.
They also seem to be weathering the recession better than old Midwestern industrial bastions like Michigan, Illinois and Indiana, states that lack protections for individual workers’ rights.
Perhaps the most compelling evidence in favor of state Right-to-Work laws was reported in a Wall Street Journal editorial last year. Citizens are voting with their feet, leaving forced-unionism states in droves for job opportunities with their Right-to-Work neighbors.
Elsewhere, Deroy Murdock lays out the case for a National Right to Work Act:
The NRTWA’s economic rationale is compelling:
? Among America’s 22 right-to-work states (including Florida, Georgia, and Texas), non-farm private-sector employment grew 3.7 percent from 1999 to 2009, while it shrank 2.8 percent among America’s 28 forced-unionism states (e.g. California, Illinois, and New York).
? During those ten years, real personal income rose 28.3 percent in right-to-work states and sank 14.7 percent in forced-unionism states.
? In 2009, cost-of-living-adjusted, per-capita, disposable personal income was $35,543 in right-to-work states versus $33,389 in forced-unionism states. Americans in right-to-work states enjoyed more freedom — and a $2,154 premium.
Notwithstanding that right-to-work states are comparatively prosperous engines of job growth, the case for right-to-work laws is not merely economic, but moral.
“Government has granted union officials the unprecedented power to force individual employees to pay up or be fired and to coerce workers into subsidizing union speech,” says the National Right to Work Committee’s Patrick Semmens. “This fundamental violation of individual liberty — an infringement on freedom of speech and freedom of association — finally would end with passage of the NRTWA.”
If you’re looking for a straightforward introduction to the economic and moral case for Right to Work laws, both pieces are a good place to start.
Workers’ Rights Are At Stake in Labor Battles Nationwide, But Not in the Way Union Bosses Claim
Last week, Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work, pointed out in Investor’s Business Daily that the real issue in the ongoing battles between Big Labor and reform-minded public officials in various states across the country is getting lost in the union bosses’ self-serving rhetoric.
As Mix notes, given the media coverage of the battle in Wisconsin:
Americans learning about organized labor’s battles in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and other states from TV, radio and newspaper reports may understandably be confused about what is at stake, especially if they have no personal experience with unions themselves. From afar, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that public employees’ right to join a union is at stake.
Of course a worker’s right to join a union is not the issue at all. The real issue at stake is that Big Labor enjoys numerous government-granted special privileges at the expense of workers’ individual rights:
…What reform-minded elected officials are seeking to curtail, and in
some cases even abolish, is government union chiefs’ legal power to
force public servants into a union as a condition of employment.Under the current labor laws of nearly half of the states, government union officials have been explicitly authorized to force all public employees in a workplace to pay union dues or be fired, as long as a majority of their fellow employees (among those expressing an opinion) support unionization.
Such forced-unionism laws, which Big Labor is now fighting furiously to keep on the books in the face of increasingly intense public opposition, actually trample on, rather than protect, employees’ freedom to make personal decisions about unionism.
And that’s the point. So next time you hear union bosses like Richard Trumka shouting about "protecting workers’ rights," it’s important to keep in mind that what he really means is "protecting union bosses’ special powers."
