Talking Points
For more expert analysis and talking points, see these articles by Americans for Prosperity Policy Analyst Phil Kerpen:
- This scheme eliminates a worker’s right to a secret ballot. Doing so would be unfair, unreasonable and un-American.The unions seek to abolish secret ballot elections, and instead recruit by collecting signatures on union cards over an infinite period of time, subjecting workers to the prospect of intimidation not only at the workplace, but at home, at church and anywhere else.
- The right to a secret ballot protects voters, and is a fundamental element of American democracy. The secret ballot prevents the intimidation and bullying of voters by those seeking to warp election results. Introduced early in our nation’s history to remedy widespread voter abuse and skewed election outcomes due to lack of voter privacy, the secret ballot allows every voter to choose according to his or her conscience, without fear of reprisal.
- Workers should be free to choose whether or not to join a union. This bill eliminates that choice. Membership in a union or any other organization should be a fully voluntary choice for each individual. But the government-mandated installment of a union makes that union the exclusive representative for each and everyone in that workplace – including workers who vote against the union. Unions should represent only the workers who voluntarily join, and should not force those who disagree to pay dues and be subject to union restrictions.
- Unions support this scheme because their membership has fallen drastically in recent decades. Their membership has shrunk because unions consistently fail to earn workers’ confidence on the merits. Unions are good when they provide real value to workers by providing services like insurance, professional development and effective representation in negotiations. Unions only need government coercion when they fail to produce real value for workers. If unions want to grow their membership, they should earn workers’ support by producing real value – not by creating a hostile environment of intimidation and bullying.
- This scheme will replicate many of the conditions which have led to disastrous results in the American automotive, airline and steel industries. The right of workers to control their own employment contracts is more important than ever because union bosses too often seek to advance their own narrow interests over the interests of their members. We trust workers to know what’s fair for them to be paid, without putting companies and jobs at risk. We don’t trust union bosses who have wrecked industry after industry.
- This forced-unionization scheme would impose costly binding arbitration on workers and employers at the hand of the federal government. If union bosses are unable to extract their demands from employers, this plan appoints Washington, DC bureaucrats to dictate the terms of employment for workers and employers without the right to a vote, or any consideration of either party’s consent.
