Sen. Rand Paul and House Republicans have introduced legislation to strictly limit the ability of unions to force workers to have to pay them dues.
Both right-to-work bills would amend the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit contracts between labor unions and businesses that force all of a company’s workers to join a union or at least pay it a fee as a condition of employment. The legislation is certain to meet fierce Democratic resistance.
Under current law, states can prohibit those contracts if they choose. Twenty-four states have passed right-to-work laws, including two, Indiana and Michigan, in the last three years. The Republicans’ legislation would make that the national standard.
Paul’s bill has 14 co-sponsors, while Rep. Steve King’s, R-Iowa, has 83. All are Republicans.
“Every American and their employer should have the power to negotiate the terms of their employment, and no American should be forced to pay union dues just to get or keep a job. However, when Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, it established the concept of ‘monopoly bargaining,’ which forces workers who want nothing to do with a union into paying union dues and abiding by the union’s rules and contracts,” King said.
GOP lawmakers have introduced similar legislation several times in recent years with little movement. This year, “no action” has been scheduled on King’s bill, according to a source for the House Education and Workforce Committee. Paul, a Kentucky Republican with presidential aspirations, has not issued a statement on his version since introducing it Thursday. A spokesman at his office could not be reached for contact.
Organized labor staunchly opposes right-to-work laws, arguing that they harm workers by weakening the ability of unions to negotiate on their behalf. Senate Democrats have opposed the legislation, and it likely would be vetoed if it made it to President Obama’s desk.
Activists who support the laws point to the recent success in Indiana, Michigan and, more recently, in Kentucky, where nine counties have moved in the last three months to adopt the laws.
“Legislators are realizing that there is an appetite for this legislation,” said Matt Patterson, executive director of the Center for Worker Freedom, an affiliate of the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform.
