It’s ‘Labor’ Day, Not ‘Union’ Day

Mark Mix, President, National Right to Work Legal  Defense Foundation

Labor Day is about celebrating workers, not  union bosses.  But as union bosses rush for face time to show they “stand  with workers,†what is often forgotten on Labor Day is why 93 percent of  private-sector workers have chosen not to stand with a union – bringing union  membership to a historical low.

Perhaps the reason why  more workers are refusing to affiliate with a union now than any other time in  almost a century is because union boss political activism takes precedence over  protecting worker rights.

Even as private-sector  voluntary union membership continues to steadily decline, an analysis published  by the National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) last week found  that union officials spent a whopping $1.7 billion on politicking and lobbying  during the last election cycle.

And why not?  This  forced dues-funded political machine enables union bosses to wield an immense  amount of clout in Washington, DC and state capitals. Modern unions are built on  their government-granted legal privileges of compulsion and extortion.

You see, in the 26 states without Right to  Work laws, nonunion employees can be fired for refusing to pay union dues.  What’s more, millions more nonunion workers have no choice but to accept union  bargaining over their wages and working conditions, even if they want nothing to  do with the union.

And why should union officials bother with  the hard work of representing employees if they’re sitting on a revenue stream  guaranteed by the government?

Well, because workers are  waking up to the fact that this flood of cash also breeds extravagance, abuse,  and corruption. Poll after poll shows the American people, and even union  members, overwhelmingly oppose forced union dues and affiliation.

As a result, union  organizing is no longer a shop floor movement of workers. Instead union  organizers collude with employers to organizer workers top-down, often using  coercive card check organizing schemes.

For instance, Martin  Mulhall, a groundskeeper at a Hollywood, Florida casino, first caught wind of a  card check unionization scheme at his workplace in 2008.

His employer had entered  into a so-called “neutrality agreement†that handed over employees’ personal  contact information and home addresses to union organizers, agreed to a “gag  clause†allowing the union to control workplace communications, and gave union  organizers access to company property.

In return, union officials  promised not to strike or boycott the company and spent well over a hundred  thousand dollars supporting a ballot initiative favored by the  company.

Thanks to the dogged  determination of Mulhall and National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys,  in November the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the agreement  was illegal under a long-neglected section of the Labor Management Relations Act  that outlaws bribery and collusion between company and union  officials.

Meanwhile, Foundation  attorneys are helping thousands of employees like Mulhall in nearly 200 active  cases nationwide stand up for their rights against union official corruption,  intimidation, and even violence.

Perhaps this Labor Day,  union officials should take a step back and reexamine why millions of American  workers like Mulhall want nothing to do with a union.  Here’s a hint:  follow the money.

Mark Mix is president  of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

Read more:  The Gilmer Mirror – It s Labor Day Not Union Day