-By Warner Todd Huston
How can it be legal that an American is forced to pay dues to a union he doesn’t even want to belong to, and hasn’t joined? Believe it or not, some state laws force workers in some industries to do just that. It seems insane and unAmerican, but it is true nonetheless.
Freedom, liberty, rights. These are all words we bandy about quite a bit, right? The first thing most Americans think about when they are forced to do something they don’t want to do is that their rights are being violated. We feel violated paying tolls on toll roads, we are angered at the high taxes we are soaked with year in and year out. But joining a union, why that’s supposed to be freedom of association, right? When we join a union and pay dues, most Americans deem that a right in and of itself. We have a right to join a union if we want, sure enough.
But what if we don’t want to join a union? I can hear the readers now saying “well, then don’t.” If it were that simple I’d agree. If you don’t like unions don’t join one. But what if you had to pay union dues even if you DIDN’T join the union? Would you feel that your rights are being violated by the state forcing you to pay dues to a union you never joined?
It seems to any clear thinking American that if anyone’s rights are being violated, it is those people forced to pay union dues to a union they don’t belong to just so that they can have the privilege to work.
This is no fantasy case. Grocery workers in Colorado, for instance, are forced by oppressive state laws to pay union dues even if they never join the union, the United Food and Commercial Workers.
But currently the State of Colorado has an upcoming Amendment that changes the forced payment of dues. Amendment 47 will be placed before Colorado’s voters this November.
This November, Colorado voters will have the opportunity to decide whether workers in the state will be free to choose for themselves whether or not to join a union. It’s Amendment 47, the Colorado Right to Work Amendment. If passed, Amendment 47 will strengthen Colorado’s economy, protect the rights of all employees and ensure that no one can be forced to join a union to get or keep a job.
- Changes the current law that forces some workers to join a union as a condition of employment.
- Protects worker rights, including the right to strike, collective bargaining, and the right to organize and belong to a union.
- Protects worker paychecks by ending the practice of forcing workers to pay dues that support political causes without their consent.
- Strengthens Colorado’s economy, creates jobs and makes our state more competitive.
The union thieves know that this is a bad deal for them. They have for some time been living off the gravy of a compliant, oppressive government that has given in to their every wish, quite despite what the people want, quite despite what is right a good.
Ernest Duran of the Colorado office of the UFCW is worried about Amendment 47. He sent out a letter last week that warned his membership that if Amendment 47 passed half of the current dues paying members (and non-member, forced dues payers) would stop sending him their dues money.
And what is Mr. Duran going to do to stop the Amendment? He is going to take union dues money and pay $2 for every signature on several petitions to get the legislature to favor union policies in the state government.
So, that means, if you are forced to pay dues and don’t want to, this union thug is going to use YOUR money to pay people to thwart YOUR wishes! No wonder the unions want to force people to pay dues even if they aren’t members.
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston