Statement by Reed Larson, President of the National Right to Work Committee, on Passage of Oklahoma's Right to Work Law

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Statement by Reed Larson, President of the National Right to Work Committee, on Passage of Oklahoma's Right to Work Law

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - The victory yesterday of State Question 695, Oklahoma's Right to Work Amendment is a tribute to the vision and perceptiveness of Oklahoma voters, as well as the stellar efforts of all those who have worked for years to pass a Right to Work law in Oklahoma.

Sooner state voters were able to see through the $8 million smokescreen laid by Big Labor and keep their eyes focused on the principle of workers' rights and individual freedom.

And this victory is not an overnight success; it didn't even occur in the last five months. This is the direct result of eight years of grass-roots lobbying by the members of the Oklahoma Freedom to Work Committee, working alongside other pro-freedom Sooners, with the constant support of members of the National Right to Work Committee®.

During this time, pro-Right to Work Oklahomans have helped elect a governor, lieutenant governor, labor commissioner and an entire corporation commission, who have all fought hard for passage of an Oklahoma Right to Work law. This victory could not have occurred without the tireless efforts of thousands of members in both organizations.

Eight months ago, Oklahoma state Senate President Pro Tempore Stratton Taylor publicly admitted Right to Work supporters "had enough votes to pass their legislation" and put it on Governor Keating's desk. An attempt to hijack Right to Work by putting it on a ballot was, in Sen. Taylor's words, "a course of action that would give [Big] labor" the opportunity to kill Right to Work. His words were nearly proven prescient.

But because of the groundwork laid by Oklahoma Freedom to Work and the National Right to Work Committee® since 1993, coupled with an all-out referendum effort by those two organizations, as well as the Oklahoma Right to Work Committee, Oklahoma voters were able to withstand five months of Big Labor's propaganda, disinformation and omnipresent smokescreen, purchased by the virtually unlimited forced-dues treasury union czars enjoy.

Experience has shown that no amount of voluntary contributions raised by pro-Right to Work groups could match the compulsory union dues Big Labor could muster. Last month, confidential sources in the Oklahoma advertising industry informed us that union officials had bought more than $8 million in television and radio advertising alone, the largest ad-buy in state history. And the total spent by Big Labor is in the $15 million range.

Anti-Right to Work operatives alone were able to spend more than the combined campaign spending for the state's last gubernatorial race.

When it comes to deception, Big Labor is without shame. As the Committee had advised, and as Oklahoma voters were warned, union bosses sought to scare, or at least confuse, the public with non-stop, baseless allegations.

Nationally, Right to Work's momentum continues. In Congress, 78 members of the House, including five of Oklahoma's six representatives, sponsors of the National Right to Work Act, H.R. 1109. This legislation would extend S.Q. 695's protections to Oklahoma airline and railroad workers who are governed under the 1953 Railway Labor Act. Oklahoma's two U.S. senators supported similar legislation in 1996.

Yesterday's vote was a victory for all Oklahomans, hard-fought and well-deserved.