- Washington Examiner Editorial
Judge John Sedia said in a Sept. 5, 2013, ruling that his state’s right-to-work law, which prevents workers from being forced to join a union or pay dues to one as a condition of employment, violates a section in the state that bars the delivery of services “without just compensation.” The judge’s thinking went like this: Union contracts require them to represent all employees in a workplace. A worker not paying dues is stealing from the union.
It’s an absurd argument. What the judge ignored was the fact that it is the unions that demand their contracts with management cover all workers. Nothing forces them to make that demand.
...Michigan’s legislature passed a right-to-work law last year. That followed similar, though more limited, efforts in Ohio and Wisconsin. Unions rolled back Ohio’s law in a voter referendum, but they have struggled in other traditionally union-friendly states. The debate puts them in the awkward position of arguing that individual workers should have no say in whether they join a union. So unions have turned to the courts to say it for them.
◼ In Other News: Demise: Wisconsin’s third-largest school district says no thanks to union representation - HotAir
◼ What happens when teachers don’t have to join a union? - CEI
Today, teachers in Kenosha, Wis., voted to decertify their union, the Kenosha Education Association, by a margin of nearly two to one. Only 37 percent of the teachers opted to retain the union in an election made possible by the labor reforms enacted under Gov. Scott Walker (R). The result goes to show that when workers have a choice on whether to join a union instead of being forced into one by law, they often choose to vote down the union.
