The 2016 election was a big win for young conservatives. The GOP retained Senate control, and Donald Trump is now heading to the White House with a pro-growth agenda.
While the national implications of Election Day are important, so are the victories local Republicans scored. Republican gains in state legislatures across the country will mean more right-to-work laws (RTW) are coming – and this is great for young workers.
Missouri and Kentucky, two conservative states where right-to-work has continually stalled, have eliminated their Democratic roadblocks to worker freedom. Voters in Missouri chose Republican Eric Greitens to be their next governor, succeeding Democrat Jay Nixon. Kentucky voters gave the GOP control of their State House – ending Democrats’ longtime reign of their last remaining state legislature in the Deep South.
2017 will assuredly bring right-to-work to more employees, and this is a win for millennials who are just beginning their careers.
RTW gives employees a choice to join a union or not. States without RTW laws allow some job sectors to force employees into union memberships and pay union dues whether they want to or not. These dues go to pay union bosses who can make up to six figures and also go to support political candidates – almost always Democrats. RTW simply gives an employee a choice whether or not they wish to join a union.
Millennial workers have good reason not to join a union. Major union organizations place priority on job tenure over job performance. If downsizing is necessary, unions look to cut the least tenured workers – even if they happen to be the best at their job.
Millennials have nothing to gain by contributing to such an arrangement.
Despite their insistence that membership is good for workers, union membership continues its long and steady decline. Fifty years ago, almost one-in-three workers were part of a union. Today, that ratio is closer to one-in-ten. Unions and progressive groups are hoping millennials will change that trend. However, there seems to be no indication of such a bailout by young workers.
Membership rates are lowest among millennials. Less than 10 percent of employees 25 to 34 are union members. Workers 16 to 24 participate in unions at a rate of around 4 percent.
It seems millennials are already aware that union membership is a waste of their hard-earned income.
