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We at the National Right to Work Committee are fighting at many levels to protect America's working men and women's right to decide for themselves whether or not a union deserves their financial support.
Whether it be in the state and federal legislatures, the courts, or hearing rooms at the FEC or the NLRB, we fight to ensure that workers join unions because they want to – not out of fear or federal mandate.
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Letter to President George W. Bush
FOR RELEASE: October 17, 2001
The Honorable George W. Bush
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the 2.2 million members of the National Right to Work Committee®, I am writing you today to request your full-fledged opposition to the deceptively titled "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act" (S. 952/H.R. 1475).
During last year's presidential campaign, you encouraged Right to Work members by pledging, in response to their pleas, to "oppose the forced unionization of federal, state, county and municipal employees."
Therefore, I hope you will make an immediate public commitment to veto S. 952/H.R. 1475.
Mr. President, if enacted, this bill would represent the most far-reaching expansion of union officials' power to corral workers into unions in decades.
S. 952/H.R. 1475 is a dangerous, freedom-crushing bill that must be stopped.
It is designed to install union officials as the "exclusive" bargaining agents of police, firefighters, county paramedics, and other public-safety officers in all 50 states.
It would by federal fiat force public-safety officers, including many who have chosen not to be union members, to accept union officials as their "exclusive" negotiators in employment contract talks.
Effectively, Organized Labor thus obtains a monopoly over employees' participation in the bargaining process.
Twenty-six states have so far either refused completely to grant union officials monopoly power over public-safety employment, or have acquiesced to a more limited form of "exclusive" bargaining than is mandated by S. 952/H.R. 1475.
If this bill is enacted, hundreds of thousands of police, firemen and paramedics will be stripped of their freedom to negotiate on their own behalf.
And the personal safety of millions will be jeopardized as a result of these employees' loss of freedom.
One predictable result of enactment of S. 952/H.R. 1475 would be the decimation of volunteer firefighter departments currently protecting countless communities that cannot afford to hire enough professional firefighters to meet their needs.
The constitution of the International Association of Firefighters union (IAFF/AFL-CIO) bars its 245,000 members from becoming volunteer firemen.
IAFF officials who are already empowered by state law to act as "exclusive" bargaining agents for taxpayer-funded firemen regularly demand and obtain contract provisions barring these firemen from volunteering on their own time.
The fact is, 75% of all firemen are volunteers.
And more than half of these volunteers are professional firemen who offer their spare time to help their community, saving local taxpayers an estimated $37 billion annually.
Such unselfish professional firemen, who are already trained and experienced, are the backbone of volunteer units.
Enactment of S. 952/H.R. 1475 would ultimately force volunteer departments across the country to disband or to operate while severely understaffed.
This bill merits no consideration by Congress, especially at a time when communities of all sizes must face the possibility of having to rescue victims of terrorist attacks.
And the grave harm S. 952/H.R. 1475 would inflict on volunteer fire departments is only the tip of the iceberg.
State and local taxpayers could expect to be hit up for hundreds of millions of dollars just to pay for the direct costs of the "exclusive"-bargaining process.
And the bill would predictably inspire a spate of illegal, dangerous police and firefighter strikes.
States adopting laws mandating public-sector "exclusive" bargaining endure, on average, four times as many strikes against vital public services once the law takes effect, according to the Public Service Research Council of Vienna, Va.
Legal provisions allegedly intended to ban strikes have proven useless.
Union officials simply refuse to call off illegal strikes against vital services until they win amnesty for having broken the law.
If S. 952/H.R. 1475 is adopted, its so-called "no-strike" provisions are sure to prove equally useless.
Mr. President, by promptly taking a clear public stand against this bill, you can strongly discourage union lobbyists from delaying congressional action on truly important national issues in order to get it to your desk.
My legislative staff and I are confident that, if you make a commitment to veto S. 952/H.R. 1475 now, we can soon demonstrate that we have the votes to sustain your veto in either the Senate or the House.
I'm sure you agree with me that Congress's focus over the next year should be on protecting Americans' lives and liberty, and not on expanding forced unionism.
That's why I hope you and your labor-policy advisors will carefully consider my request that you speak out against S. 952/H.R. 1475 now.
If you or your advisors have any questions about this measure, please have them call me or Mark Mix, the Right to Work Committee's Senior Vice President for Legislation, at 703-321-9820.
Sincerely,
Reed Larson