The National Right to Work Committee is a scam

People often ask me why I no longer write a column for Labor Day. The answer is that I used to, until I realized that anti-worker organizations and politicians use Labor Day as a way to mislead readers into believing that they are for working families; I prefer to counter their lies after Labor Day.

In The Gazette’s Aug. 30 edition, the National Right to Work Committee offered a guest column trying to convince workers it is a great organization that only cares about working people and our rights. They state we should celebrate them on Labor Day.

That is sickening.

For decades, the National Right to Work Committee has sold itself as a defender of workers’ freedoms and rights. The organization’s real purpose is far from that. They are a corporate-funded machine dedicated to weakening unions and lowering the wages and workplace protections for all workers in the United States.

They aim to ban union agreements, preventing unions from collecting fair-share fees from all dues objectors. Unions are legally required to represent those who fall under the collective bargaining agreement. This simply allows individuals to enjoy the benefits of union contracts, higher wages, grievance protections, health care, and pensions. These non-dues-paying free riders contribute nothing to the costs of representing them in Right to Work for Less States. The goal is to take away the unions’ resources until they are bankrupt and powerless.

The National Right to Work Committee is funded by billionaires, corporate lobbies, and think tanks that only want to empower employers, not working people. The Koch brothers have given millions. Why? Weaker unions mean lower labor costs, diminished political power for working people and an all-around upper hand for corporations. In Right to Work for Less states, wages are lower, benefits are crap, and workplace fatalities are higher.

The committee has been repeatedly accused of running deceptive campaigns, using dark money to funnel anonymous donations. They rely on direct mail operations, spreading misinformation to not only workers but also lawmakers. They thrive on propaganda backed by deep, dark pockets.

Workers have seen their unions’ bargaining strength weakened after right-to-work laws were imposed. With little union power, workers face low wages even though worker productivity is at an all-time high, as well as record corporate profits. The pay gap between CEOs and workers widens every year, as reported by the AFL-CIO Pay Watch.

Unions remain a proven way to reduce workplace inequality and give workers a voice. States with stronger unions consistently report higher wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. Right-to-work laws create a race to the bottom for all workers, not just union workers.

Right to Work sounds great, but it has always been a scam created by the very rich to strip all workers of their rights and voices in the workplace. The ability to bargain collectively and come together to achieve what we cannot achieve alone is the Union way. Right To Work for Less is a scam.

Period!

Rick Moyle is executive director of the Hawkeye Area Labor Council AFL-CIO and president of the Iowa State Council of Machinists.