Unions counterbalance right’s anti-worker bias

RE: MARC THIESSEN’S “Requiring union dues is coercing support for Dems” (March 6)

Thiessen’s column on union dues was about as accurate and objective as his column “Taxpayers finally realizing benefits of tax bill” (Feb. 27). This approach is easily explained; he is a conservative columnist whose responsibility is to promote the position of the hard-right moneyed interests. The benefits to the country as a whole and to the average citizen do not enter into the equation, facts be damned.

The Wagner Act of 1935 made it possible for employees to form a union if a majority voted for a union. The law also enables the union to collect dues from all employees, because all employees benefit from union representation. A major advantage of a union is collective bargaining — ever hear of the West Virginia school teachers?

To list a few things unions have been involved in that has improved conditions for the country and the non-elites: weekends, eight-hour workday, health care, child-labor laws, workplace safety etc.

Conservatives have protected coal companies from a lot of these burdensome obligations. Conservatives oppose collective bargaining. For an excellent primer on the reason for unions watch the old movie “Grapes of Wrath,” or more radical, read the book “Grapes of Wrath.” Conservatives do not approve of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Why? The CFPB has retrieved (more than $12 billion) from banks, other financial organizations and corporations that was finagled from (29 million people).

The Taft Hartley Act of 1947 allowed states to have right-towork laws — work for less. Jim Crow states jumped right in, and they lead the nation in poverty, lower education, hunger and shorter life expectancy. The main objective of right-to-work laws is to destroy the power of the worker to negotiate with his employer — divided we fall.

Conservatives oppose classaction lawsuits, (and) want to enforce arbitration, (and undercut) unions for one simple reason — to keep the power away from the individual. They are a race to the bottom. The only solution to anything is to get informed of the facts and vote accordingly . ...