Following up with 10-year veteran timber trucker Michael Weller was a statement in this article in the Flathead Beacon today that might have mislead some readers:

“As a non-union member in an industry where many of his colleagues join the union, Weller receives the benefits of increased pay when wage agreements are worked out through collective bargaining by the union.”

The Flathead Beacon misses the point. Weller, who works in a forced unionism state, is required to pay for the cost of unwanted monopoly bargaining – despite the fact he doesn’t formally belong to the union in the first place. The article did highlight, however:

“Weller paid the charges out of fear of losing his job…”

All too often, workers in states without Right to Work laws are forced to pay for monopoly bargaining.

When an employee is forced to pay dues to a union in order to get or keep a job, it’s hardly accurate to call that a “benefit.”