TTD Release – Right-to-Work Laws Destroy Jobs and Wages

In a recent release from the Transportation Trader Department AFL-CIO (TTD), of which TCU is a member:

Far too many politicians talk a good game about supporting working people and good jobs, but then simultaneously support policies that hollow out an already shrinking middle class. One of those policies is so-called “Right-to-Work” legislation, part of a deliberate campaign by extremists and parts of the corporate lobby that know exactly what they are doing: crushing the wages, benefits and safety of working Americans.

The legislation (HR 785) that has been recently introduced in the House of Representatives would create a nationwide prohibition against representation fees in private sector collective bargaining agreements. Specifically, unions would be unable to collect representation fees for the workers they are compelled by law to represent. Right-to-work would upend almost 100 years of labor policy, is inherently inconsistent with the mandate that unions represent all workers in a unit, and is specifically designed by its framers to make it more difficult for unions to negotiate contracts on behalf of their members. For workers represented by the Railway Labor Act (RLA or Act), this reform would impose unique legal, policy, and implementation problems that are inconsistent with the Act and represent a grave threat to labor-management relations.

Click here to read the full release from the TTD.