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Compulsory unionism harms workers, businesses

From the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions

Compulsory unionism forces employees to join the union and pay dues even if they do not want to participate. This is unsound policy. Workers should be allowed to freely choose concerning union membership.

Samuel Gompers, one of the founders of the labor movement, said: “The workers of America adhere to voluntary institutions in preference to compulsory systems which are held to be not only impractical, but a menace to their rights, their welfare and their liberty.”

Right-to-work states allow for voluntary unionism, which makes them more inviting not only to businesses but also to their employees.

A study by the Commonwealth Foundation in Pennsylvania found:

• Between 1970 and 2000, right-to-work states created jobs at a rate of 222 percent faster than Pennsylvania (a non right-to-work state). • From 1977 to 1999, Pennsylvania’s gross domestic product grew than less than half the rate of right-to-work states. • From 1980 to 2000, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate, on average, was higher than right-to-work states. • The typical family in a right-to-work state has $2,800 more in purchasing power than an average family in Pennsylvania. • Poverty rates have dropped dramatically nationwide over the past 30 years. However, Pennsylvania’s poverty rate has dropped at less than half as much as right-to-work states.

A high priority for Kentucky’s lawmakers should be protecting their constituents’ freedoms by enacting a right-to-work law that frees workers from the shackles of unionism and creates a more vibrant economy for the entire commonwealth.

Sources:

“Compulsory Unionism is killing PA” by Lawrence Reed, Commonwealth Foundation.

“Right to Work: for a union...” by D. Eric Schansberg, Courier-Journal.

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