My home state of Arizona (thankfully) has had right-to-work laws since 1946 that have protected employees from being forced against their will to join or pay dues to a union. This fundamental freedom of choice has frustrated some union leaders in the Grand Canyon State who believe the ideals of our constitutional republic don’t apply to them.
This goes to show that while public and private unions once served an important purpose in our country, big labor unions have shamelessly become a political wing of the Democratic party that blatantly disregards the will of its own members.
To Arizona’s advantage, neighboring states like California, New Mexico and Colorado do not have right-to-work laws. Their loss has been our opportunity and resulted in countless new small businesses, tech startups and other job creators opening up shop Arizona.
According to a seven-year Spectrum Location Solutions study of companies leaving California, Arizona is the third-best market for California disinvestment. The states that topped Arizona: Texas and Nevada, which, you guessed it, are also right-to-work states.
Yet still today, even in right-to-work states, too many labor laws that were once meant to protect workers have become outdated and are being abused by union bosses to fundraise for leftist campaigns and wage unjust attacks against legitimate companies.
The steady decline of union membership nationwide over the past few decades has made these union leaders even more desperate. In recent years, big labor has been willing to do whatever it takes to attempt to hold on to the shrinking power they have left. This behavior includes:
- Banning secret ballot elections for employees so that union leaders can intimidate their members and dictate outcomes.
- Donating almost $420 million of union member dues to the Democratic Party and closely aligned liberal special-interest groups between 2012-14.
- Blocking periodic recertification votes that allow union bosses to never face re-election.
- Forcing union members to participate in protests that encourage bullying and intimidation.
These actions clearly do not serve the best interests of union members and disenfranchises our nation’s workforce. Our Founding Fathers believed in no taxation without representation, but apparently big labor union leaders disagree.
In order to return power back to employees, I introduced legislation with Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., and several of my colleagues in the form of H.R. 3222, the Employee Rights Act. This common-sense bill lets employees decide whether their current union acitivity actually meets their needs.
The ERA includes eight pro-employee reforms that would put a stop to the anti-business actions listed above and enact the type of workplace protections that put individual employees on a level playing field with employees of labor unions.
These provisions included in the ERA have even received strong support from unionized households. That’s because they do not harm or threaten the right to unionize, but rather empower union members to have a real seat at the table. Additionally, this legislation creates real accountability so that big labor bosses actually have to serve their members — not just the Democratic National Committee.
While Arizona’s right-to-work status is one of the main reasons our state continues to thrive, the main economic driver of the Grand Canyon State will always be our workforce. The hard-working men and women of Arizona have built the job-friendly environment that has made the Southwest the fastest growing region in the country.
These workers, and all American workers, deserve the right to be empowered with a process that protects their interests, not just the interests of big labor union bosses.
