Sanders Introduces Legislation To Deprive States Of Right To Pass Right-to-work Laws

Sanders Introduces Legislation To Deprive States Of Right To Pass Right-to-work Laws

As Democrats audition for their hoped for role as the new Congressional majority, the flow of progressive ideas just keeps coming.  So far, they promise to raise taxes, to manifest from thin air “free” college and “free” healthcare, and to be legislative busybodies who monitor our speech, thoughts, and actions.  Yay!?

As if that weren’t exciting enough for the Socialist Democrats’ promise of a bold new America where everyone is a winner, no one ever loses, and cowboy poetry festivals are subsidized by magical money fairies, everyone gets a paycheck.  For doing nothing!  Those magical money fairies are working over-time to cover all this Democrat largesse.

The latest idea drummed up by the out-of-touch Socialist Democrat left is a federal law prohibiting states from passing and enacting “right to work” laws.  The legislation is going nowhere in today’s Republican-led Congress, but the audition for 2018 Congressional majorities and 2020 Democrat presidential hopefuls marches on.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) filed legislation Wednesday that would significantly strengthen the power of organized labor.

Sanders, along with senators Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.), among others, introduced the Workplace Democracy Act, which would make it easier for workers to unionize and enter into contractual negotiations with employers.

. . . .  The most controversial provision of the legislation is also the newest. Tucked away in the 12-page bill is language that would repeal a portion of the National Labor Relations Act allowing states to enact “right-to-work” laws. Such laws prevent unions from mandating membership or payment of dues as a condition of employment.

Since 1947, 28 states have opted to codify right-to-work provisions into law, arguing that compulsory unionization violates the constitutional right of freedom of association and limits economic competition.

Right-to-work laws have long drawn rebuke from liberals, who claim that allowing individual employees the choice of whether to join a union or not only serves to weaken the stance from which workers negotiate with management.

Sanders, a self-proclaimed Socialist, has been active in attempting to establish unions in the South.  I covered his failed efforts to unionize a Nissan factory in Mississippi.

Having worked their destructive magic in Detroit, the United Auto Workers union (UAW) has set its greedy sights on the South.  Roundly rejected by Tennessee workers at a Volkswagen auto plant in 2014, the UAW picked itself up, dusted itself off, and redoubled its thirteen-year efforts at a Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi.

The South has long rejected unions, including the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union who tried and failed to unionize Boeing workers in South Carolina last month.  But the UAW is undeterred, even dragging avowed socialist and failed presidential candidate for the 2016 Democratic nomination down from Vermont to try to convince Mississippians that he—and the UAW—knows what is in their best interests.

Instead of simply accepting the free will of these workers, Bernie knows best.  If the great unwashed can’t figure out what is best them for, Bernie will.

What better way to eliminate right-to-work laws than at the federal level?

Hot Air describes how those pesky free-thinking Americans can be forced to do what Bernie thinks best . . . for, you know, those other people.

The most glaring item on the agenda is the elimination of free elections among employees when deciding whether or not to unionize. Under this new scheme, the Labor Unions would only have to convince a majority of “workers” to sign a petition and the matter would go straight to the NLRB for a decision without any time for campaigning or debate.

A stealth effort could see this happening before the employer and any workers not interested in unionizing even knew it was going on. And I put “workers” in scare quotes because the bill also expands the definition of that word to include independent contractors or temp agency employees. In other words, if they were coming up short, the unions could go and attempt to convince any of those outside resource contractors to sign on and get them over the top.

But buried in the bill is an even more insidious poison pill. Sanders and his pals are looking to repeal the portion of the National Labor Relations Act which gives states the option to pass right-to-work laws. That would essentially negate all of the progress which has been made in the fight for fair labor practices and options over the past two decades.

Once again, all workers would be forced to contribute a portion of their income every week to the political efforts of the union, even if the platform is directly opposite the workers’ preferences. This would continue the government endorsed tradition of robbing workers of their right to free speech.

Aren’t socialists fun?  When they can’t win at the local level on the merits of their argument, they want to change federal law to impose their will on the American people.  They know it was rejected, but hey, who cares what actual Americans think?  Certainly not the Bernie cohort.

That supposed “blue wave” is looking more and more like a Ty-de-Bol flush as the central planning, all-knowing purveyors of all that is right and good circles the drain.

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