National Employee Freedom Week Seeks to Help Workers Break Away from Big Labor
This week a number of liberty-minded organizations, including FreedomWorks, are working to inform workers in non-Right-to-Work states that there are options which can free them of their liberal union bosses.
I live in Texas, a Right-to-Work state, and we have seen a dramatic increase in job growth in recent years. As union states like Illinois, Michigan and California have been shedding jobs and population, Right-to-Work states like Texas have seen an influx of companies looking to escape the burdensome nature of oppressive unions.
Union strong-arming can lead to the loss of jobs and in last year we’ve seen clear examples of this, including the death of one of America’s greatest brands.
Last November Hostess Brands Inc. announced that it would be shutting its doors after one of the their largest unions, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), began a nationwide strike. The work-stoppage crippled Hostess and their ability to produce their iconic products at multiple facilities. Among the brands that died that day was an American institution, Twinkies. The union’s stubbornness in collective bargaining negotiations meant that instead of getting any concessions, they all lost their jobs, and the jobs of employees who were not unionized.
Upon announcing the closing, Hostess CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said, “We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike… Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.”
Instead of allowing Hostess to fairly renegotiate their contracts, the BCTGM union forced the loss of thousands of jobs.
After seven months of sale and restructuring, the company is emerging from the ashes as Hostess Brands LLC, a slimmer and trimmer operation that no longer uses union labor. Twinkies will return to store-shelves July 15.
From the United Auto Workers to the AFL-CIO and beyond, many unions take the hard earned dollars of their members and spend it support far-left politicians and political causes, whether their members like it or not. Although the total union membership in the U.S. is declining, the power of Union bosses still has incredible sway. Their contributions helped elect Barack Obama in both 2008 and last November.
Barack Obama has repaid unions for their support by pushing their agenda, despite objections from Congress.
This week the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case asserting that President Obama violated the Constitution by making recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board while Congress was still in session. Obama side-stepped the Senate’s confirmation process in order to quickly pack the NLRB with union-friendly appointments. Should the Court rule against the administration, it would call into question the rulings the President’s liberal cronies on the Board have made since January 2012 when he made these potentially unconstitutional appointments.
Workers in union controlled states need to stand up against these leftist policies, these oppressions of worker’s rights and opt-out of their union where possible or move to a Right-to-Work state where they can enjoy a job free from Big Labor’s unjust influence.
For more information on how you can break out of your union, visit http://www.employeefreedomweek.com.
