Today, I and a few freedom fighters made our way to Gallup to take part in a public information session regarding “Right to Work.” Overall, it was a good, respectful hearing, the best I’ve been a part of and I’ve been part of them all. I was able to make a short, less than 5 minute-long presentation to help frame some of the issues, but as with all of these meetings, the rest of it was an open forum.
Hilariously, at least two union members made the interesting argument that paying union dues is like paying taxes. The argument goes something like this: If government started exempting individuals from paying taxes who don’t want to pay them, that would be bad, so why should we expect unions not to collect dues from workers who don’t want to join them?
Unions are powerful, but when did government endow them with taxing authority?
On a separate albeit related note, teachers in Oklahoma are on strike. Just like West Virginia, it appears that “Right to Work” has not “killed-off” the unions in Oklahoma (both are “Right to Work”). Notably, the unions in both states struck illegally. In Oklahoma (like West Virginia), it is illegal for public school teachers to strike (as the law cited below clearly states):
It shall be illegal for the organization to strike or threaten to strike as a means of resolving differences with the board of education…If the organization or its members engage in a strike, then the organization shall cease to be recognized as representative of the unit and the school district shall be relieved of the duty to negotiate with such organization or its representatives.
Even if Janus v. AFSCME is decided in taxpayers’ favor as is widely-expected, government unions in particular have a long track record of breaking the law and attempting to place themselves on par with the state itself. It is going to take a concerted effort in New Mexico to ensure the unions don’t flout the law as they are so prone to do.
No wonder even liberal FDR opposed the very existence of government labor unions!
