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Who’s Afraid of “Right to Work”?

Will someone please tell me why most unions and labor are afraid of “right to work”?  It’s almost like a phobia.   Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels released a statement Thursday in support of “Right to Work” and is expected to reiterate that support today in a speech in downtown Indianapolis.   His argument is basically that an individual should not have to choose between their job and joining a union.  (Catchy phrase!)

I’ve stated  before that if a union is providing quality service for its members they will gladly stay and join, if not they’ve got a problem.  And therein lies the rub.  Under the current version of RTW, not only could an potential employee not be forced to join a union as a condition of employment, but also anyone who is currently in a union and paying dues could leave the union and stay on the job.

That is what really scares unions and labor.

They aren’t so much worried about new employees, per se.  They are scared “excrementless” that their ranks will dwindle even further because the members who didn’t liked being forced to join or don’t like like the way the union is being run will take the path of least resistance and quit.  Remember, union membership has already been declining in this county, so forced membership is the only way to keep the ranks filled.  When you look at it like that, I’d be scared too.

It is much easier to force someone to join and organization rather than be responsive to their needs and provide them good service in order to get them to stay, although it can be done.  I site two examples of high union membership sans the compulsory element, the union that represents most city employees and the union which represents employees at the Indianapolis Star.  Membership in the unions is not mandatory, but their ranks are high and members pay dues, because the leadership is doing its job.  The only unions that would suffer under RTW would be the ones that more concerned about taking care of themselves than taking care of their members.

This is some pretty big stuff.  It would also explain why I’ve been hearing rumblings of the International AFL-CIO setting up an office in downtown Indianapolis to better coordinate efforts to make this ground zero of the RTW battle.   I am also hearing about protests during the Super Bowl to draw attention to the RTW issue.  Frankly, I think if labor and unions would out as much energy into keeping their members happy as they did forcing them to pay dues, they would be a lot better off and wouldn’t have to stay awake at night being afraid of right to work.

Posted: 12|16|11 at 8:00 am by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
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  • Think Again

    “Excrementless.”

    Laughed til I cried.  That’s priceless.

  • Think Again

    “Excrementless.”

    Laughed til I cried.  That’s priceless.

  • Fright de Work

    The merchants of misery prefer the company of coercion (forced association); to the legitimate effort (work) required to respect and / or represent, the interests their sovereign equals.

    Reliance on the barbaric tactics of forced association, is absolute evidence, of failed or counterfeit representation.  

  • Just the facts

    The entire premise of this post is factually incorrect.
    Federal law has prohibited mandatory union
    membership since 1947, and no American worker can be required to
    pay union dues.
    An Indiana right-to-work law would ban an employer and a union
    from agreeing to permit the collection of fees from nonunion
    members to cover the costs of services the union is required by
    federal law to provide all employees at a union employer.
    That is a key distinction.

  • pascal

    And, worse, it is accurate.  It looks like the language Mitch was quoted as saying, “All employers…..” will apply to teacher unions as well-voiding their little game of coercion.  But, I could be wrong-it has happened.

  • pascal

    “Just the Facts” is doing an Ed Delaney parsing and obscuring what is factual.  If I am a probationary employee I am not forced to pay mandatory union dues but at the end of that period, typically 90 days, I get the choice of paying dues to the unin or being fired from the job I proved I could handle.. So, Just the Facts, is sort of a liar.  I can’t be forced bu there is a cost to my choice.  There ought not be any cost. As to the false distinction our lying friend announces, federal law was written such AT THE DEMAND OF THE UNIONS.  So, F off with your half truths-post on some forum that has stupid people.

  • Ramon

    You have to have a job to understand why RTW is so bad for the working men and women of Indiana.  That may explain this post and the responses of some on here.

  • WS

    Pascal is the master of quarter truths.  You know the agreement going in to the ‘probationary period’.  So, you are not getting “fired” for your choice, you are taking your ball (if you have any balls) and going home.   If employers don’t like union contracts then don’t sign one.  It is as simple as that.  No one makes a company sign a contract with a union.  There are lots of employers in Indiana without union contracts.   Just the facts is on the mark.

    As for Pascal, he is correct about one thing…as evidenced by his stellar grammar and misuse of punctuation this is a forum that has stupid people. 

  • pascal

    I’ve had more jobs, Ramon, than you ever have had.  But, if you wish explain something so that we can understand it, your keyboard awaits.  I’ve been told that my summer job employment needed to end or I needed to pay union dues. When I would wish to work holidays when home from school, they would have their hands out(but the employer said it was a new probationary period).  We had a piecework system with excesses going into a fund.  I never sa a dime of it.

  • David Steele

    What I have a problem with unions is that, generally, the members have no voice in policy.  The union leaders make decisions and you are expected to accept it.  The only union that mandates that the members vote on everything is the FOP.

    The union will mandate that I vote for democrats, use my money to support gun control, gay marriage and various college boy issues that do nothing to put food on the working man’s table.  If the unions were more democratic, then they would be a counter force to the educated progressives who are destroying the democrats.

  • Rico

    If YOU had any balls, you’d stand up to union coercion.  (And a comma would have been appropriate after the word ‘puctuation’ in your last sentence, Poindexter.)

  • Rico

    It’s only bad for sheep like yourself who don’t have minds of their own and don’t want to be accountable for their own productivity.

  • Rico

    …and destroying this nation, David.

  • Just the facts

    I think Pascal’s response makes it clear that this issue has nothing to do with job creation and everything to do with politics.

  • Fright de Work

    You sure is smart, thanks for that there lesson.  ’N fer more grammaticull fun (according to Webgrammar ‘n others):

    We have a running debate at work. When using quotes at the end of a sentence, is it: He said, “I wish I could go home.” OR He said, “I wish I could go home”. According to Gregg Reference Manual, 7th Ed., Sabin, #247, periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation mark. This is the preferred American style. The Elements of Grammar by Shertzer gives the same direction (page 102.8).

    See y’ewe in class.

  • Rico

    Can we all take just one guess who posted this?

  • pascal

    How do you know what I know or knew? Ans-you do not know.  I’m guessing that before too long this coercion won’t exist by law and that the numbers of thugs in Indiana will markedly decrease.

  • Ramon

    David,  you obviously have an axe to grind as no one could be as misinformed as you are are stating.  Federal law prohibits dues money from being used for political activity.  If you know of any violation then you need to report it to the feds.  Also the political action arms of the unions do not mandate,  they make recommendations.  We have a secret ballot.  Your doctor, your lawyer, your dentist,  your business owners all have political action groups also.  Why would you want to neuter working men and women?

  • Ramon

    So you have trouble keeping a job??  I am not surprised.

  • pascal

    So far, that is the only language I’ve seen. It is fair to comment upon it. When I see the bill I might have more to say. But, leaving things to dimwits is a sure fire way of having to revisit an issue. Politics? Politics? Politics?
    Why limit the discussion to job creation? Give the massive losses to the communities involved with unionized business job losses why not consider how much longer those former employees deserve robbing our UC fund? That is, answer the arguments about the need to 1) stop losing jobs 2) start obtaining them by fair means 3) end parasites whose host is jobs 4) address the moral issue of allowing 5th wheels to tax employees by calling their extortion “dues”.

  • Steved6

    Ok go to department of labor and look up any unions LN-2 filing. The federal government requires every expenditure down to the office supplies. I have commented on this before, all you union experst need to find a union you don’t like and look up their expenditures. PACs can be used for donation to political parties just as any PAC can, union dues cannot that is law plain ans simple. PACs are voluntary no matter what crap you want  to say here. Any local union can also only contribute 22k a year and no more than 2,000.00 to any one canditate.

    Abdul you have spent zero time researching anything about unions or their operation, you have no idea and if your word could be trusted you would visit some as you publically said you would last year, so sorry you are just anti union bs.

    If only 15% of people in Indiana belong to unions why are the republicans spending so much time on this? I read your crap about taking the cost of living and when you factor that into the equation the wager per week difference is small. However taking the bs out of your view Indiana ranks 16th from the bottom in per capita wages in the nation, along with 15 out of the twenty two right to work states. When the per capita wage drops further where is Indiana going to go? Is the cost of living going to drop? You quote several right to work states with higher wages, ND, SD and Wyoming and there is a little think called oil, natural gas and mining raising the wages of thos states.

    Why don’t you do some actual research and learn what a building trades union is about. The republicans love to complain about the lack of eduction in Indiana, never mind the fact that every graduating apprentice in the building trade recieves  an associate degree from a university that you like to talk about teaching at.

    So Abdul when are you visiting some apprenticeship programs and using your educator hat to review the curriculum and then visit the ABC and give an informed opinion of what is taught in both?

    Yea the republicans will run this through, Mitch needed the unions on major moves, now he doesn’t. If I was running the AFL-CIO the superbowl week would make Wisconsin look like a church service no matter how quick the republican run it through.

  • http://chicagoboyz.net/ TMLutas

    Since maybe 89% of working men and women express their PAC politics via non-union PACs why is it only union PACs representing the 11% that deserve the label of representing working men and women?

    Unions represent working men and women? In other contexts, the 89% are called scabs and threatened with violence if they wander onto the “wrong” work site. Let’s be honest, the US doesn’t actually have a true worker movement. It has a union movement that cartelizes the labor it can control and favors it over the rest of the working men and women.

  • Guest

    So, how about this.  Repeal the Federal Law that states unions must negotiate for everyone.  Let them only negotiate for their members.  Those that don’t join are on their own to negotiate their wages.  If the Union can negotiate better than the ones on their own, don’t you think it would be a good reason to then join the union? 

    Just Sayin.

  • Abdul

    Good luck getting past Homeland Security with that one.

  • Think Again

    That would require the repeal of PL 217.  Passed in 1975 or 1976.  Not wise.  Few govs are willing to tackle nearly 40 years of establismhed law and followup litigation, appeals, etc.

  • Think Again

    I don’t know….it gave me a headache.

  • Think Again

    Oh, it can be done.

  • Think Again

    LMAO

  • Rico

    Look at the word usage and punctuation, and compare it to frequent posters on here.

  • Abdul

    Under current law when a union is formed the members decide whether they want to represent the entire workplace or just themselves.  So if anyone is “freeloading” it is the union’s own fault.

  • Abdul

    Under current law when a union is formed the members decide whether they want to represent the entire workplace or just themselves.  So if anyone is “freeloading” it is the union’s own fault.

  • pascal

    Yeah, and like reporting violations to Obama would do anything but get you an IRS audit.

  • Fright de Work

    Shhh!  Like Mom never said, “Hiding” in plane site, you’ll make yourself forensick playing heckle & chide.

  • pascal

    Uh, you are telling me that union reports are truthful? I thought the trades supported Mitch because leasing the Toll Road guarenteed them 10 years of job security.

  • pascal

    LMAO-the federal law is as it is because the unions insisted upon “representing” everyone in a unit.  They insisted, and still do, for reasons plain to see with just the tiny bit of thought.  So, their whole argument about free riders is a sham.     I think Abdul errs with his recent opini

  • Think Again

    As much as I’d like to, again: it gives me a headache.  I was an editor in another life.  It’s like fingernails on a blackboard.

  • Think Again

    Not necessarily…good either way.

  • Think Again

    They decide in the same manner.  Don’t mislead. 

  • Scooter

    Had to think for a bit, but here goes…

    I an a ‘forced’ dues payer to a Union.   CWA Local 4900, District 4, AFL-CIO.  

    I have three choices;
    1) Be a full member & pay dues, which includes representation at the contract negotiation table & grievance procedures.
    2) Decline to be a member, and pay the same amount as a ‘representation’ fee, with parallel pay & benny increases as full members but no representation at grievance proceedings.
    3) Work some place else.

    As far as political contributions from my dues, I have two choices;
    1) Let the Local & National decide what and who gets a political contribution with no say as to the party or person.
    2) Fill out several forms that return that portion of my dues to me that would have been utilized for political purposes.

    Elections were just held in Local 4900, by a ‘double-blind’ ballot system.  All those voting are verified for proper membership, and anonymity was assured as the votes were counted.  As a supporter of Voter ID here in Indiana for all public elections, I feel very confident that Local 4900′s election system was free of ‘box stuffing’ or ‘tampering’.

    I do support RTW, from the perspective that I should have the choice whether or not to join a Union, and be free to negotiate with my employer for my own pay, compensation, benefits & other items.  As far as grievance representation, screw it. I do not worry about my performance, attendance, or quality. And if the boss is that big of a prick (personally or professionally), then I’ll go work for the competition and kick their ass. Any company that keeps a crappy manager on is not worth working for anyway.

    Unions need to redefine their purpose, possibly being more supportive of their membership at finding solutions to aid companies be more competitive on the world market, even as we look at countries that use 12 year-olds who make our electronic gadgets at sweat-shops 12 hours a day.   

    As it stands right now, I wish to decide membership/non-membership for myself.

  • Ramon

    Gee,  you are too lazy to fill out a form opting out of the voluntary PAC donations.  I guess you want others doing everything for you.   Opt out or quit bitching.

  • Scooter

    It’s all about the ‘mandatory’ dues in order to work there.

    Feel free to ask about big words like, ‘and’ & ‘the’, next time.

  • Steved608

    Pascal from reading your posts its obvious that you are very educated, I suspect either a professor or a lawyer. If you have never had labor unions as clients then I doubt that you know what they have to report. The trades supported Mitch on major moves because he told them it was that or right towork. My view at the time was when he didn’t need the trades it over and why climb in bed with him.
    If you go to unionfacts.org which is an anti union website you can get the salary of every union official in the country. They get their info from the department of labor. I am pretty sure it is a federal crime to falsify these reports and real sure that the chamber of commerce and such keep an eye on them.
    So yes the LN-2 reports are accurate, unless you would like to produce facts to show different.

  • Steved608

    Think homeland security will stop people from coming downtown? Look for the orange stocking caps so the news oulets know they aren’t just superbowl fans.

    How come you didn’t publish the survey you sent out that you some how got from the AFL/CIO on right to work, like it was not sent out to anyone else? I guess if you don’t sign up for Indypolitics then you can’t get that info? It was pretty definite what the majority thought of the republican push this year. Or how about the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce rsponse about paying dues to their organization that I sent you? That response was pretty much the same as the unions, unfair if everyone doesn’t pays dues. Guess that has no value on your site?

    I know its your blog,  one sided as it is.

    National rightto work has been in town a year, but God forbid the AFL/CIO comes in to fight against this. Shocking? How dare they?

  • Rico

    Actually, it is NOT good either way.  Introductory elements are set off by commas. There are some cases where they can be omitted. In this case, however, the first introductory element was an adverbial clause, and the comma’s always necessary.  Any English teacher not requiring a comma in that sentence isn’t doing his job. (Or maybe he has tenure and just doesn’t care.)

    I don’t make a habit of correcting others’ grammar or punctuation as you do, Professor.  But in this case, it was clear that WS deserved it.

  • Fright de Work

    Taxpayers are victims of forced association, and forced to pay union dues, in the form of “prevailing wages.” 

  • pascal

    The more I think about this I think that the union position is that they wish to conserve what they have and are fearing the loss of members they have coerced into membership.  This is not so much a problem for them in the trades because the trades

  • pascal

    …because the trades are more like the Guilds.  If I have the demonstrated skills in a Craft Union I can get a job anywhere and RTW really isn’t my issue.  My firm used to advertise the Union Bug back in the day when it meant something. It meant that our workforce  was either a craftsman or on his way to becoming one.