Neighborhood Ministries

Canada is dominated by unions and labor law requires forced union dues as a condition of employment. The  Prime Minister says that the U.S. has an economic advantage because 28 of the 50 States have Right to Work Laws. He believes that the U.S. should adopt a national law promoting compulsory union dues to level the playing field. Opponents support the Right to Work laws because they feel that workers should have the right to get and hold a job without being forced to join or bankroll a union. U.S. law permits Right to Work laws that protect that right. However, Canada’s Prime Minister wants the U.S. to ban Right to Work laws as part of  renegotiating tariffs. Forced union wages and obstructive union rules are a hindrance to job creation in union dominated States. Industry is currently moving out of union dominated States to States with Right to Work laws. Forcing Right to Work States to impose mandatory union dues would not help Canada or union dominated States, it would only drive jobs overseas. A National Right to Work Act would break the power of unions to force mandatory union dues as a condition of employment. Regardless, people should not have to pay to support causes they do not agree with as they do when union dues are mandatory, and they should not have to pay the union in order to be able to work. Everyone should be free to compete for a job based on their performance, and not have to pay for the privilege of getting and keeping a job.

The National Right to Work Act has been introduced again to repeal Big Labor’s power to force workers to pay union dues just to get or keep a job. Union bosses are fighting it to protect their privileges, but they cannot afford to have it debated publicly and voted on by Congress. Currently millions of workers must surrender a part of their paycheck to get and keep a job. In closed union shops, you cannot work there unless you belong to the union. In areas where they cannot require membership in the union, they often require those who do not join to still pay dues. Those funds pay for “organizing drives” to include more people and to fund politicians who will enact bills extending the power of unions. They also fund liberal causes like Planned Parenthood, yet workers often cannot designate where the funds go or withhold funds from causes they do not support. Some States have laws allowing members to withhold funds that go for non-union activities such as funding political campaigns but  the unions often hide those funds under activities labeled as union activities. Several States have recently passed Right to work legislation freeing workers from mandatory requirements to pay dues, yet union bosses continue collecting dues in violation of the law. The unions claim that they have a right to extort protection money from workers even if they don’t belong to the union in exchange for the privilege of working. They also use threats and actual violence to terrorize workers into joining. They outlaw secret ballots when possible so they can target and intimidate workers that don’t want to join. Unions force excessive pay raises and work rules that destroy productivity and make it difficult for businesses to compete through crippling strikes, resulting in many businesses moving plants overseas and contracting out auxiliary services such as janitorial, labs, and printing, to non-union companies. Many businesses have also been forced out of business. Politicians supported by unions also enact laws which place excessive taxes and regulations on small businesses to force them out of business to limit competition to union businesses.