Why a Conservative opposes "Right to Work" laws

There are many reasons to oppose the leftists who now control most of this countries international unions. There are also many changes which would free union members and workers who are not union members from exploitation by unscrupulous misleaders of labor. There should be "pay check protection" a concept advocated by president George W. Bush. This would ban the spending of dues dollars on political campaigns and allow only money voluntarily donated by union members to be used for political purposes. Furthermore, workers who oppose the union should be able to designate that a non profit charity should receive the money they have paid in dues. 

Workers covered by a union contract are currently able to "decertify" the union whenever the contract expires. However, the process is complex and fraught with complex legal issues. There should be a simple up or down vote each time a contract expires. Neither the union nor the employer should be allowed a role in the process. Furthermore, so-called card checks supported by the Obama administration should be prohibited. These would substitute the presentation of cards signed by the majority of workers in a bargaining unit for a secret ballot election when deciding whether workers will be represented by a particular union. The clearly violates the rights of workers to be free of coercion and to have a secret ballot to votes on representation.

Finally, article 20, the clause in the AFL-CIO constitution which prohibits any international union from representing a bargaining unit which has ever been represented by another international union, should be outlawed. The effect of this clause is to give members of a union the choice between no union or staying with a union they distrust or dislike. Imagine if corporations agreed that they would never serve customers who had ceased to do business with another corporation. That is what article 20 provided for unions. 


Having advocated measures that would earn the hatred of any union official or activist, why do I oppose "Right to Work"laws? The answer is Coercion I do not want an individual to be coerced by either the union or the employer in his decision to be represented or not represented by a union. Right to work laws force each individual worker to publicly declare his support for a union in order to support it by paying dues. Just like the card check process, this makes him or her subject to coercion. In this case from the employer who does not wish to deal with a labor union.


I would urge conservatives to support the right of individual workers to be of coercion from either employers or unions when deciding whether or not they wish to be represented by a trade union.