So-Called 'Right to Work' harms all workers

So-Called “Right to Work” is a lie disguised in nice language to make it seem like a less harmful set of policies.

Although Texas became a “Right to Work” state in 1993 and Oklahoma in 2001, New Mexico has been resilient in holding out and ensuring that working people maintain the right to collectively bargain for fair wages, benefits and a safe workplace.

What is So-Called ‘Right to Work’ and why is it bad for local labor and members of the Southwest Pipe Trades Association?

So-Called “Right to Work” laws are those that allow a person to work under a union contract and reap the benefits of union representation without paying their fair share. These policies were established to erode the collective bargaining power that working people have when they organize as a union. The eventual goal of So-Called “Right to Work legislation is to lower the wages of workers and reduce the benefits they earn.

Although So-Called “Right to Work” laws currently only affect public sector unions, the damage affects the labor movement as a whole.

They also affect the entire middle class, union members and non-union members. High union wages force non-union contractors to provide similar wages as a way to compete with their union counterparts. If the union wage falls because of a So-Called “Right to Work” law, the non-union wage will also fall, leaving the middle class behind.

Federal ‘Right to Work’ is wrong and would devastate the rights and benefits for which generations of union members have fought

Although there is no federal “Right to Work” law, there are plenty of groups, organizations and individuals working to establish them. The issue has been argued in the  U.S. Supreme Court in cases such as Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, where it was ruled that public sector unions, such as teachers unions, are permitted to charge agency fees as a means of paying for the representation of non-union teachers.

More recently, the now conservative court majority overturned Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, ruling in Janus v. AFSCME that public sector employees working in an organized workplace cannot be required to pay any fees to reap the benefits of collective bargaining.