Who’s Afraid of “Right to Work”?
Will someone please tell me why most unions and labor are afraid of “right to work”? It’s almost like a phobia. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels released a statement Thursday in support of “Right to Work” and is expected to reiterate that support today in a speech in downtown Indianapolis. His argument is basically that an individual should not have to choose between their job and joining a union. (Catchy phrase!)
I’ve stated before that if a union is providing quality service for its members they will gladly stay and join, if not they’ve got a problem. And therein lies the rub. Under the current version of RTW, not only could an potential employee not be forced to join a union as a condition of employment, but also anyone who is currently in a union and paying dues could leave the union and stay on the job.
That is what really scares unions and labor.
They aren’t so much worried about new employees, per se. They are scared “excrementless” that their ranks will dwindle even further because the members who didn’t liked being forced to join or don’t like like the way the union is being run will take the path of least resistance and quit. Remember, union membership has already been declining in this county, so forced membership is the only way to keep the ranks filled. When you look at it like that, I’d be scared too.
It is much easier to force someone to join and organization rather than be responsive to their needs and provide them good service in order to get them to stay, although it can be done. I site two examples of high union membership sans the compulsory element, the union that represents most city employees and the union which represents employees at the Indianapolis Star. Membership in the unions is not mandatory, but their ranks are high and members pay dues, because the leadership is doing its job. The only unions that would suffer under RTW would be the ones that more concerned about taking care of themselves than taking care of their members.
This is some pretty big stuff. It would also explain why I’ve been hearing rumblings of the International AFL-CIO setting up an office in downtown Indianapolis to better coordinate efforts to make this ground zero of the RTW battle. I am also hearing about protests during the Super Bowl to draw attention to the RTW issue. Frankly, I think if labor and unions would out as much energy into keeping their members happy as they did forcing them to pay dues, they would be a lot better off and wouldn’t have to stay awake at night being afraid of right to work.
