The Right to work movement is a movement that started in 1955 as a way to allow workers to refuse to join a union without having to worry about losing their jobs. While this is may sound good, the movement itself has caused workers to actually make an average of 17% less than their counterparts in unions as well as have fewer benefits including Health & Welfare coverage, pension/retirement accounts; workers compensation and unemployment benefits are also considerably less than those found in states that allow free bargaining.
Don't be fooled by the name of the movement. This is a movement that benefits the employer far more than the employee.
* Union workers are 52% more likely to have healthcare provided by their employer.
*Union workers are three times more likely to have a defined-benefit or guaranteed pensions.
* Union workers are 50% more likely to have paid personal leave.
* Union workers have a median weekly earning of $886 vs. non-union workers median weekly earnings of $691; workers earn $5,333.00 less per year in right-to-work states (US Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
It should be mentioned that labor unions do not advocate just for union members. Labor organizations have been major contributors to may current labor laws such as the federal minimum wage, workplace safety and health laws, the 40-hour work week, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid to name a few.
"In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining... We demand this fraud be stopped." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
"(Right-to-worklaws) are a virtual conspiacy of the crafty, the ignaorant, or the misguided to subvert industrial peace, exploit men's need to work and deluge the community with industrial irresponsibility. 'Right-to-work' laws do not create jobd; they only victimize the worker and make his organization ineffective." ~ Reverend Dr. Walter George Muelder, educator, economist, ethicist, Dean of Boston School of Theology
Sources: U. S. Department of Labor, Labor Statistics, Union Members in 2008 1/28/09; U. S. Department Bureau of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, March 2008, August 2008; Economic Policy Institute; Employee Benefits Research Institute, May 2005.
Page Last Updated: May 03, 2010 (09:07:43)
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Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the Union of their choice.
