The luncheon speaker for Freedom21 today is Mark Mix, the president of the National Right to Work Committee.   His engaging talk today focused on how the involuntary collection of union dues is used as a financial prop for candidates who oppose Constitutionally-limited government and the principles of freedom.  Mix noted that the motto of his organization is “Everyone should have the right to join a union, but no one should be compelled to join.”

He talked about the profound impact a period, yes the punctuation mark, has had on our country.  In relation to the National Labor Relations Act, the language that would give the rights to defer from being compelled to join a union was not ended with a period, but with a qualified exemption statement which spelled out the compulsory right of unions to require membership.

Right to work was passed in 1947 as a corrective to the problems created in the 1935 NLRA.  It allowed states to outlaw forced unionism , and 22 states have done so (no, Ohio hasn’t exercised this option).  Data shows that overall economic vitality is improved in states which have exercised the right to work option, and those states have increased residency migration to the state as well.

There are some significant interests who have a vested interest in forced unionism and the involuntary payment of dues to the union (forced unionism is a $20 billion/year business, and is growing yearly).  This economic muscle is being utilized politically at this point to try to eliminate the ability to keep union organizing votes as secret ballots (the card check legislation).  A large proportion of this is to push forced unionism on all workers, and a provision in it would require government officials to mandate terms of contracts if an agreement cannot be reached between the union and the employer within 120 days, which would give the union leaders unprecedented leverage to demand massive concessions.  The president of the SEIU union knows that passage of this bill will expand union numbers by 1.5 million per year for the next 10 to 15 years.  Even if mandatory dues would only be $35 per year, it equates to a massive influx of money for the union leaders to use to further centralize control over both employers and the employees they supposedly represent.

Mix notes the big prize they are seeking is First Contract Arbitration, which would mandate the above 120 day time limit, and would prevent any renegotiation of the contract for at least two years.  Mix also noted that the ability to force individuals to contribute to an agenda with which they by and large disagree with, with no voice in how such practices should be done, is the essence of socialism.