Opinion pieces from National Right to Work Foundation experts are regularly featured in major publications across the country, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, The Detroit News, and many others. Here are just a few pieces from the last decade that have shed light on Big Labor’s anti-worker freedom agenda:

2020

  • “Union bosses’ bargaining powers are undermining government’s response to the coronavirus” – Mark Mix – Washington Examiner, 9/7/2020

    “In the public sector, instead of allowing elected officials to respond and adapt quickly to crises such as COVID-19, monopoly bargaining forces local governments to ‘bargain’ with union officials over many changes, even those necessary to stem the virus’s spread. Not only does this block needed reforms, but it is also inherently anti-democratic, forcing those elected to set public policy instead to ‘negotiate’ it with a special interest group whose aims often conflict with the public’s interests.”

  • “Police Unions Protect Bad Cops, And Joe Biden Would Make It Worse” – Mark Mix – The Federalist, 9/7/2020

    “Yet unchecked budgets and debt are hardly the only negative impact of granting special-interest union bosses this special ability to dictate public policy. Under monopoly bargaining, all employees in a workplace, from deadbeats to star performers, are treated alike under a one-size-fits-all contract.”

  • “To address UAW corruption, target how union bosses harm rank and file” – Mark Mix – The Detroit News, 9/4/2020

    “These privileges allowed UAW fat cats to live worker-funded limousine lifestyles knowing that their revenue stream and bargaining power were largely insulated from the popular will of the very workers they claim to ‘represent.’ That’s why any reforms, either as part of or to avoid a federal takeover of the UAW, should empower workers whose trust was so blatantly betrayed to hold union bosses accountable.”

  • “Virginia politicians poised to hand even more power to aggressive tax-and-spend lobby” – Mark Mix – The Roanoke Times, 2/20/2020

    “Along with Virginia’s Right to Work law, first enacted in 1947 and amended to furnish explicit protections for public employees in 1973, H.B.1872/S.B.962 is a pillar of state policy. The two statutes operate in combination to ensure no public servant loses his or her job or is discriminated against in the workplace for refusal to join or pay dues or fees to a union.”

2019

  • “Trapped by the Teamsters” – Mark Mix – The Wall Street Journal, 12/8/2019

    “Union officials unable to win the support of a majority of the workers they purport to represent shouldn’t maintain power solely because of bureaucratic rules. Instead, whenever enough workers file a petition to remove a union they oppose, the NLRB should simply let them vote.”

  • “UAW strike shows union’s coercion and corruption go hand-in-hand” – Mark Mix – The Detroit News, 10/2/2019

    “The unfolding corruption scandal that has engulfed numerous top officials at the UAW is only the latest and a particularly blatant demonstration of an indisputable fact: Union officials frequently wield their government granted power to benefit themselves even at the expense of the rank-and-file workers they claim to represent.

    Is the ongoing strike against GM another such an example?”

  • “Right-to-work law boosts the Nevada economy” – Mark Mix – The Wall Street Journal, 9/1/2019

    “There is a reason Tesla’s Gigafactory is located in Nevada and not California. A nationwide 2017 survey of business leaders conducted by Chief Executive magazine found that, by a 2-to-1 margin, CEOs prefer adding jobs in right-to-work states over other states.”

  • “Governments Must Secure Employees’ Janus Rights” – Mark Mix and William Messenger – The Wall Street Journal, 8/29/2019

    “Labor Department figures suggest unconstitutional deductions could be coming out of the paychecks of as many as 7.2 million government employees nationwide. The fix is simple: Governments must cease transferring wages to unions until they amend their dues-deduction policies to comply with Janus.”

  • “Big labor won’t respect Michigan workers” – Mark Mix – The Detroit News, 3/12/2019

    “Michigan union bosses opposed right to Work before it even passed into law, and have regularly violated Wolverine State workers’ rights to stop dues payments ever since. In fact, it was big labor’s overreach in opposition to right to work that provided a final push towards Michigan’s adoption of right to work.”

2018

  • “On Labor Day, celebrate workers’ First Amendment rights under Janus” – Mark Mix – Washington Examiner, 9/3/2018

    “Every public school teacher, police officer, firefighter, and civil servant in the nation now has the freedom to decide as an individual whether or not union officials deserve their financial support. This means government employees can withhold financial support from union officials that are corrupt or hold institutional interests that conflict with the individual’s personal views.”

  • “Voluntary, not coercive, unionism respects American values” – Mark Mix – The Hill, 9/3/2018

    “Imagine being forced to ‘donate’ your spare time to a local club or pay mandatory dues to your local Chamber of Commerce or Red Cross. Most people would bridle at having to contribute to organizations they may not be interested in supporting. Yet that is exactly how unions operate in many American workplaces.”

  • “Labor unions don’t deserve a stranglehold on new KCI terminal jobs” – Mark Mix – The Kansas City Star, 5/12/2018

    “If federal labor policy were not radically biased in favor of monopolistic unionism, then perhaps all construction employers and employees who wanted to bid on contracts for the [Kansas City International Airport] upgrade — regardless of union affiliation or the race or gender of the company’s owner or employees — would be able to compete on a level playing field.”

2017

  • “On Labor Day, Consider The Injustice of Forced Dues” – Mark Mix – Investor’s Business Daily, 9/1/2017

    “As you watch your children board the school bus for the first day back to classes, consider this: If you don’t live in one of the 28 states with a Right to Work law, chances are that school bus driver is forced to pay fees to a union as a condition of driving that bus. The teachers at the school the bus is heading toward likely face the same choice: Pay money to the union or be fired.”

  • “Ending the Obama labor board majority” – Mark Mix – The Washington Times, 5/25/2017

    “As more and more workers are protected by the now 28-state Right to Work laws, which prohibit forced dues and fees, union bosses desperate for new sources of forced-dues cash have concocted new and outrageous schemes — aided and abetted by the Obama NLRB.”

  • “Want a tremendous deal on infrastructure spending? Suspend Davis-Bacon” – Mark Mix – The Hill, 4/26/2017

    “This outdated and wasteful law puts independent contractors and sub-contractors at a disadvantage in submitting proposals for federal projects – effectively barring nonunion workers from working on government-funded projects. By forcing bidding to follow union-dictated job classifications, work rules, compliance requirements and cherry-picked union pay scales, Davis-Bacon enables Big Labor to feed at the taxpayers’ trough on federal construction projects.”

2016

  • “Labor Department ‘Blacklisting Rule’ Weaponizes Frivolous Union Allegations” – Mark Mix – Investor’s Business Daily, 10/6/2016

    “Under the blacklisting rule, roughly 24,000 businesses employing nearly 30 million Americans could be frozen out of federal contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually solely because of union bosses’ allegations of ‘anti-union activities’ (translation: opposing forced unionism).”

  • “Union Bosses: Our Permanent Incumbents” – Mark Mix – National Review Online, 6/16/2016

    “Veteran officeholders are notoriously hard to unseat, but even our longest-serving politicians have to face the voters every few years in regularly scheduled elections. Incumbent union bosses are another story.”

  • “Should Workers Be Forced To Pay Union Fees, Or Be Fired? Yes, Says Kamala Harris” – Mark Mix – The Daily Caller, 1/7/2016

    “As more and more workers are protected by the now 28-state Right to Work laws, which prohibit forced dues and fees, union bosses desperate for new sources of forced-dues cash have concocted new and outrageous schemes — aided and abetted by the Obama NLRB.”

2015

  • “Don’t Impose Forced Unionism on Seattle Rideshare Drivers” – Mark Mix – The Daily Caller, 12/14/2015

    “Faced with an American workforce of traditional employees who are largely uninterested in bringing a union into their relationship with their employer, Big Labor has spent considerable effort in recent years using union political influence to target new categories of Americans for forced unionism, including mandatory dues and fees to replenish union treasury funds. Previous targets have included home-based childcare business owners and even mothers who to take care of significantly disabled children.”

  • “Think voluntary, not coercive, unions” – Mark Mix – The Daily Caller, 5/4/2015

    “Union officials’ coercive power over employees, many of whom want nothing to do with a union, flies in the face of America’s tradition of voluntarism and free association.”

2014

  • “2014 Elections Show Voters Are Ready to Confront Big Labor’s Special Privileges” – Mark Mix – CNS News, 11/9/2014

    “As more states look to rein in spending, protect employee rights, and challenge public sector unions’ special privileges, reform-minded candidates across the country should recognize that voters will reward them for taking on Big Labor. In the 2014 midterms, the union bosses flexed their muscles and lost. Big Labor’s failure to exact revenge should embolden pro-reform politicians across the country.”

  • “Right to Work Right for Mainers” – Mark Mix – MaineWire, 8/16/2014

    “No person should be forced to financially support a private organization they do not support. However, union bosses enjoy special government-granted privileges to force thousands of Maine’s workers just that. Imagine the outrage if everyone was forced to fund a political party, church, or a civic organization.”

  • “Workers not interested in unions” – Mark Mix – Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/12/2014

    “The UAW’s legal challenge isn’t surprising. In fact, it’s just the latest example of Big Labor’s new approach to organizing. Instead of making a positive case to employees, union officials have increasingly turned to coercive and misleading tactics that jeopardize workers’ rights.”

2013

  • “The UAW’s Southern strategy” – Mark Mix – Human Events, 10/17/2013

    “Regardless of the reasons, independent-minded workers across the Right to Work South are taking a stand against coercive unionization drives in their workplaces. These workers know what happened to Detroit and don’t want Detroit-style unionization exported to their communities. As some Nissan workers in Canton wrote on their t-shirts, “If you want a union, move to Detroit.”

  • “Big Labor, big spender” – Mark Mix – USA Today, 9/2/2013

    “If Big Labor was running as a presidential candidate, he or she would have outspent the Obama campaign (the most expensive in history) more than two to one. In fact, the unions’ $1.7 billion political blitz is roughly equal to the combined spending of the Obama and Romney campaigns ($1.17 billion) and both national parties ($678 million) for the 2012 elections.”

  • “UNION PUSH: VW workers, be wary of secret deals” – Mark Mix – Chattanooga Times Free Press, 4/13/2013

    “In Chattanooga, like elsewhere, the endgame for UAW union bosses is to gain monopoly bargaining control over as many workers as possible. That is why VW’s Chattanooga workers should be wary of what secret deal is behind the UAW’s smokescreen before they, too, end up with a raw deal.”

2012

  • “What right to work would do for NY” – Mark Mix – New York Post, 12/12/2012

    “Over the past decade, private-sector employment as measured by the Bureau of Economic Analysis grew by an average of 12.5 percent in Right to Work states. Meanwhile, New York’s private sector-growth was just 8.8 percent. Indeed, Right to Work states as a whole have long outperformed on job creation, compared to compulsory-unionism states.”

  • “Court exempts union bosses from laws against identity theft” – Mark Mix – Washington Examiner, 10/27/2012

    “Imagine that. North Carolina’s courts have held that federal labor law pre-empts a completely unrelated state identity theft law, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has long held that a state retains jurisdiction where the conduct to be regulated touches deeply rooted local interests.”

  • “Knox Supreme Court Decision Strengthens Worker Rights” – Mark Mix – National Review Online, 10/3/2012

    “Knox gives hope that public employees will no longer have to interpret complex opt-out procedures to refrain from supporting union politics they may disagree with. Ironically enough, the prospect of actually asking nonunion employees for permission before spending their dues on politics is what SEIU operatives were so afraid of in 2005. Their strident political activism, paid for in part by unwilling nonunion employees, could lead to new Supreme Court precedents that protect workers’ First Amendment rights while constraining union officials’ special privileges.

  • “Mark Mix: Union muscling in to O.C. hospital” – Mark Mix – The Orange County Register, 4/13/2012

    “In response to the union’s coercive tactics, a majority of hospital workers signed cards, letters, and petitions stating that they do not want the SEIU union bosses’ so-called “representation.” Instead of respecting the employees’ wishes, [hospital] officials accepted SEIU officials as the workers’ monopoly bargaining agents after a rigged “card count” was held in November 2011.”

  • “Government employees’ free speech on trial” – Mark Mix – The Washington Times, 1/9/2012

    “In 2005, SEIU officials in California imposed a “special assessment” on all state civil servants in their bargaining unit – including those who were not union members – to defeat a ballot proposal that would have prevented public-sector unions from using forced dues for political contributions without employee consent. As in Wisconsin and Ohio, union operatives fought tooth and nail to protect their special privileges, but several courageous state employees didn’t take this scheme lying down.”

2011

  • “Beyond Boeing: The Obama labor board’s forced-unionism agenda” – Mark Mix – The Washington Times, 10/28/2011

    “While the Boeing case is a visibly egregious assault on our enterprise system, it’s hardly the first, or even the latest, forced unionism power grab launched by the Obama Labor Board.”

  • “The NLRB canceled my vote” – Mark Mix – Washington Examiner, 10/18/2011

    “I was strongly suspicious of the results of the SEIU’s card check drive from the very beginning. Although union officials claimed to have collected signed cards from a majority of my co-workers, I was never approached by their organizers.”