National Right To Work Committee | The National Right to Work Committee®

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Sabotages Right to Work Law

On May 1, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

(Source: March 2011 NRTWC Newsletter)

In Contrast, Maine Governor Stands Up For His Avowed Principles

Eight years ago, Indiana citizens who were determined to free themselves and their fellow Hoosiers from the shackles of compulsory unionism launched what they knew from the beginning would be a sustained, and often difficult, effort to pass a state Right to Work law.

Ever since then, the organization these citizens put into high-gear in 2003, the Indiana Right to Work Committee, has mobilized an ever-loudening drumbeat of support for employee freedom.

Over the course of the ongoing campaign, the Indianapolis-based Right to Work group has benefited from the counsel and experience of the National Right to Work Committee.

And National Committee members and supporters who live in the Hoosier State, roughly 119,000 strong and growing in number year after year, have been the bulwark of the Indiana Right to Work campaign.

Stubborn Opposition to Right To Work Has Ended Long Political Careers in Indiana

In the 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010 state election cycles, pro-Right to Work Hoosiers sent thousands upon thousands of postcards, letters, and e-mail messages to their legislative candidates urging them to oppose forced unionism. Right to Work activists also reinforced the point with phone calls and personal visits.

Since the Indiana Committee emerged as a major statewide citizens lobby, many politicians who once rode the fence have decided to take a stand in favor of Right to Work. Other politicians who stubbornly continued to carry water for, or at least appease, Big Labor have gone down to defeat.

For example, in early 2005, then-Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton (R-Columbus) told National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix that Right to Work legislation wouldn’t get a floor vote in his chamber as long as he held his leadership position.

In 2006, Mr. Garton, a 36-year incumbent and the longest serving Senate pro tem in American history, was defeated by primary challenger Greg Walker, an underfunded political novice. A critical asset Mr. Walker did have going for him was his 100% support for Right to Work.

That same year, 26-year state Rep. Mary Kay Budak (R-LaPorte) was ousted in a primary upset by pro-Right to Work challenger Tom Dermody. A few months earlier, Ms. Budak had been one of the minority of House Republicans who voted with Big Labor to defeat an amendment that would have made Indiana a Right to Work state. (more…)

NLRB’s Outrageous Power Grab

On April 21, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

The National Labor Relations Board is now dictating corporate policy decisions that directly target Right to Work states.

Boeing, which is moving production from high-cost Washington State (a non-Right to Work State) to more competitive South Carolina (a Right to Work State), is under assault from the Board for its decision. The Wall Street Journal weighs in:

We knew that Big Labor had political pull at the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board, but yesterday’s complaint against Boeing is one for the (dark) ages. By challenging Boeing’s right to build aircraft in South Carolina, labor’s bureaucratic allies in Washington are threatening the ability of states to compete for new jobs and investment—and risking the economic recovery to boot.

In 2009, Boeing announced plans to build a new plant to meet demand for its new 787 Dreamliner. Though its union contract didn’t require it, Boeing executives negotiated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to build the plane at its existing plant in Washington state. The talks broke down because the union wanted, among other things, a seat on Boeing’s board and a promise that Boeing would build all future airplanes in Puget Sound.

So Boeing management did what it judged to be best for its shareholders and customers and looked elsewhere. In October 2009, the company settled on South Carolina, which, like the 21 other right-to-work states, has friendlier labor laws than Washington. As Boeing chief Jim McNerney noted on a conference call at the time, the company couldn’t have “strikes happening every three to four years.” The union has shut down Boeing’s commercial aircraft production line four times since 1989, and a 58-day strike in 2008 cost the company $1.8 billion.

This reasonable business decision created more than 1,000 jobs and has brought around $2 billion of investment to South Carolina. The aerospace workers in Puget Sound remain among the best paid in America, but the union nonetheless asked the NLRB to stop Boeing’s plans before the company starts to assemble planes in North Charleston this July.

The NLRB obliged with its complaint yesterday asking an administrative law judge to stop Boeing’s South Carolina production because its executives had cited the risk of strikes as a reason for the move.

No wonder, the movie Atlas Shrugged is a surprise hit.

Tagged with: Atlas Shrugged • Boeing • Jim McNerney • National Labor Relations Board • South Carolina • Wall Street Journal
Posted in: Bailouts to Unions, Big Labor Payback, National Right to Work Committee, NLRB, Obama Administration, Union boss power

Murdock’s defense of “workers’ rights”

On March 10, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

Excerpts from Scripps Howard News Service and Hoover Institution Fellow Deroy Murdock’s recent defense of “workers’ rights” (link to complete column):

Even as they scream for “workers’ rights,” the one workers’ right that union bosses despise is the Right To Work. Big Labor and its overwhelmingly Democratic allies oppose a woman’s right to choose whether or not to join a union. Instead, they prefer that predominantly male employers and labor leaders make that choice for her.

The American Left has hoisted “choice” onto a pedestal taller than the Washington Monument. Liberals and their Big Labor buddies will race to their battle stations to defend a woman’s right to choose to abort her unborn child. Meanwhile, they holler themselves hoarse to prevent her (and her male counterparts) from freely choosing to accept or avoid union membership.

Sen. Jim DeMint introduced the National Right To Work Act this week.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., understands that exercising this choice is a basic human right, and neither private employment nor government work should require joining or paying dues to a union.

“Many Americans already are struggling just to put food on the table,” DeMint said, “and they shouldn’t have to fear losing their jobs or face discrimination if they don’t want to join a union.” Thus, on Tuesday, DeMint introduced the National Right to Work Act.

Notwithstanding that right-to-work states are comparatively prosperous engines of job growth, the case for right-to-work is not merely economic but also moral. (more…)

SEIU’s Fundraising Scheme: It’s an offer you can’t refuse!

On September 9, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

Contributions to political action committees are voluntary by law. But when the SEIU decided to punish local affiliates that did not meet fundraising goals, they instituted a punishment. The National Right to Work Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) which decided to turn a blind eye to the scheme. What’s worse, the FEC violated its own rules by deciding this form of coercion was OK by them.

Posted in: Big Labor Ethics, FEC, Forced-Dues for Politics, National Right to Work Committee, Political Activity, SEIU

Keep Bailing

On August 18, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

Bailouts for big banks and Wall Street firms. Bailouts for car companies and the United Auto Workers. Proposed bailouts for union pension funds. And now this — a massive $26 billion bailout for state government and teacher’s unions. Not only is the country on its way to bankruptcy but it appears the moral bankruptcy of this Congress has already come.

The Wall Street Journal takes on the latest bailout head-on:

To treat Washington’s spending addiction, the November elections are the taxpayer’s best chance to stage an intervention. But until then, President Obama and the Democratic Congress are determined to keep pushing strung-out state governments to take one more fix.

Witness yesterday’s 247-161 largely party-line House vote to approve a Senate bill shovelling another $26.1 billion out to state education and Medicaid programs. The White House has promoted the bill as emergency assistance for strained state budgets. But this unique brand of therapy drives states to spend more, not less. The “assistance” is so expensive that several governors were begging for relief even before Mr. Obama (more…)

Posted in: AFT and affiliates, Big Labor Payback, Mississippi, National Right to Work Committee, NEA and Affiliates, Public Employees, Texas, Wisconsin

Elena Kagan Supports Forced Union Dues for Politics

On July 29, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

Right to Work President Mark Mix sat down with nationally-syndicated radio host Lars Larson to discuss Obama Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan’s support for forcing workers to contribute to union political activism.

NRTW Podcast

Tagged with: dues for politics • Elena Kagan • Lars Larson • Mark Mix
Posted in: Economics, Forced Dues, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Legislation, Monopoly Bargaining, National Right to Work Committee, Obama Administration, Union boss power

Big Labor Plays with Fire

On July 12, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix makes the case against the nationalization of labor laws to give police and fire unions monopoly bargaining power. The House leadership has attached the monopoly bargaining provision to the war funding bill and it now heads to the Senate.

Posted in: Exclusive Representation, Forced Dues, National Right to Work Committee, Police Fire Monopoly Bargaining, Police Firefighters EMTs, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees

Becker in Hot Water

On July 12, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

The National Right to Work Committee led the effort to block the appointment of radical SEIU-water carrier Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. It now appears Becker has crossed the ethical line and is under investigation.

From the Washington Examiner:

When it comes to President Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill, what Big Labor wants, Big Labor gets. Unions spent $400 million electing Democrats in 2008, so they demanded to select which fox gets to guard the henhouse overseeing organized labor.

In the least surprising news of the week, Craig Becker — Big Labor’s go-to legal expert — has served on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for barely three months, and he’s already under investigation.

Becker lost a bipartisan Senate confirmation vote for the NLRB before Obama gave him a recess appointment. Becker is so pro-union he previously opined that “employers should have no right to be heard” in cases before the NLRB. (more…)

Posted in: Big Labor Ethics, National Right to Work Committee, NLRB, Personnel Alert

NLRB’s Outrageous Power Grab

Murdock’s defense of “workers’ rights”

SEIU’s Fundraising Scheme: It’s an offer you can’t refuse!

Keep Bailing

Elena Kagan Supports Forced Union Dues for Politics

Big Labor Plays with Fire

Becker in Hot Water

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