Right to Work Laws Poll

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Latinitas

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been thinking about politics a bit lately (I don’t always), and I’ve been thinking about right-to-work laws. For those who don’t know, right-to-work laws are laws that prohibit companies from requiring membership in a union for employment (normally, the union represents the workers of that company). Many states have one, and many states do not. I honestly go back and forth in my mind on whether such laws are a good thing on the whole or a bad thing on the whole. What is your opinion?

I know that there is probably no Catholic opinion on these issues, so I guess it’s just a judgment call. Anyway, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

I figured that this was the best forum to put this question, but if it isn’t, I hope the moderators will move it to the appropriate place.

Benedicat Deus,
Latinitas
 
I can’t say. Originally unions were a good thing, as employers were prone (and still are) to take advantage of workers. Miners, for example, were required to pay for their food & rent, & often ended up more in debt to the company than they could ever get out of.
(“St Michael don’t you call me, for I can’t go – I owe my soul to the company store,”)

There were major battles over the whole issue.
On the other hand, the time I was fired after being injured, the union was about as useful as a broken ankle. I sued my employer and they settled out of court,but it was a horrible experience.

I have to say it just depends, probably on where and when you are.

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Many attitudes towards unions were formed when the situation was very different from today. At one time the unions represented the poor and working class. Today they often represent upper middle class people. For instance, public school teachers or some public employees are paid more than many people in their district.

Another problem is that unions today often take positions far beyond work related issues and compensation. Many unions support legal abortion and same sex marriage. Mandatory dues force Catholics to support agendas opposed to our faith.

Catholic social teaching is not pro or anti union; they are a remedy necessary in some cases (like a medicine - you take it only if you really have to). A better solution is distributism. Support small business, as close to the family as possible. When a number of workers are needed to maintain an industrial operation, let all the workers in this particular factory share ownership in the factory; no multi national corporations.

When unions are mandatory, there is no incentive to keep dues down, no incentive to avoid outside political agendas, like pro choice or SSM.
 
Unions have at times been considered an illegal restraint on commerce. One thing is certain they can be a cartel or monopoly. If you have a closed shop that union is a monopoly. I believe that unions should be allowed but they should not be allowed monopoly power.

My personal observations and experiences are that unions are fairly corrupt and do terrible damage to the economy. They drive wages up and quality of service down. My grandfather was threatened with violence until he joined his trade union. For him the only benefit to paying union dues was no longer being threatened. But that is exactly how a cartel works and to be expected. The best thing for everyone is to have right to work while allowing voluntary unions.
 
To me, all Right to Work means is the right to work for less: Less wages, less benefits, and less bargaining power with the employer.
 
Some unions are good, some are bad. Right-to-work laws protect the worker from being forced to belong (in order to have a livelihood) to a union that he/she does not see as good or beneficial. In the US, the right to work should be seen as a constitutional right under the right of free association.
 
christofirst said:
To me, all Right to Work means is the right to work for less: Less wages, less benefits, and less bargaining power with the employer.
Click to expand...
Here in CA, the same unions that push for the minimum wage laws have also arranged for companies that have union employees to be exempt. They can pay their union employees less since they have the union looking out for the workers best interests. Paid less, their dues being used to employ the union hierarchy, and those dues also used to support political causes/candidates they wouldn’t. Since the union knows better than it’s members what is good for them.

Unions can be good or bad. Public employee unions end up being a corrupting influence on the legislature. Tend to pay off the unions to get their support, which is a burden on the taxpayer expecting the politician to represent their best interests. We’ve got huge pension liabilities looming as a result.

Not actually the fault of the unions, just as the car companies troubles in paying fairly lavish pension benefits wasn’t the unions fault. The fault like with the politicians who were supposed to be representing the taxpayers and keeping an eye on the long term financial health of the state and what would be affordable.

One of the best guys I worked for did contract work for the government. He would agree to pay union wages/benefits but not commit to hiring union workers and insisted on ability to fire at will. He found he could afford to pay the wages for good workers, but not for folks who wouldn’t produce/perform.
 
christofirst said:
To me, all Right to Work means is the right to work for less: Less wages, less benefits, and less bargaining power with the employer.
Click to expand...
Do you believe a person ought to have that option to enter into a contractual arrangement for employment, even if it means for less?
 
christofirst said:
To me, all Right to Work means is the right to work for less: Less wages, less benefits, and less bargaining power with the employer.
Click to expand...
Cartels can certainly increase wages and benefits, which are just a form of wages. That isn’t surprising at all. That is why people form cartels. But the individual certainly has less bargaining power with the employer with a union. Where you have unions the employee surrenders all his power to the collective.

Also higher wages isn’t necessarily a good thing in the long term. If the wages are artificially high due to the monopoly power of the union that hurts the business. When the business goes under due to high labor costs then having no wages because you don’t have a job isn’t so great.
 
I live in a state that does not force union membership. I’m not even sure if there are any unions here at all (Texas). I believe an employee should have the right to work without being forced to belong to a union. Employment should not be contingent upon a person’s willingness to support any group, regardless of that group claiming to be there to help the employee.
Corki said:
Some unions are good, some are bad. Right-to-work laws protect the worker from being forced to belong (in order to have a livelihood) to a union that he/she does not see as good or beneficial. In the US, the right to work should be seen as a constitutional right under the right of free association.
Click to expand...
👍
 
What good is accomplished by replacing corporate greed with union greed? Unions have aligned themselves with leftist activist forces which often oppose Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular. This forces a moral dilemma in which the worker can either suffer financially or be forced to violate their conscience.

We must also take into account that a union contract limits the number of workers by increasing the cost of each worker. Jobs to China is the result, and corporations are then blamed for the “sin” of trying to remain in business.

Same thing with the recent push for $15/Hr minimum wage laws. That essentially creates one unemployed teenager for every employed teenager, as it nearly doubles the cost of each employee.

Ah, but economic theory is no longer taught to the young or re-presented to the adult. Arbitrary moral standards of “fairness” and “acceptance” are.
 
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