Sandoval County took lead in passing right to work

Right-to-work proponents scored a win recently, with the Sandoval County Commission voting 3-1 to approve a right-to-work ordinance. Under the measure, employees in unionized workplaces cannot be forced to join a union or pay union dues. The ordinance takes effect in mid-February.

While opponents say right-to-work legislation hurts unions, we’d argue that it simply forces them to compete for members rather than have captive, dues-paying members delivered to them.

Proponents of the measure say it will promote economic development, and they’re right. Twenty-eight states already have right-to-work legislation on the books, including Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma.

Proponents of right to work say those states have lower unemployment rates than New Mexico and higher median hourly rates and higher annual average incomes. They argue that some companies won’t even consider setting up shop here without a right-to-work law.

And while attempts have been made over the last several years to pass statewide right-to-work legislation to make New Mexico more competitive with its neighbors when vying for desperately needed jobs, state lawmakers haven’t been able to get it done.

Sandoval County commissioners deserve credit for trying to fill that void with their ordinance. They’re hoping that by passing the measure they will be able to lure more businesses to their county, which has been dealing with the loss of thousands of jobs at the Rio Rancho Intel plant.

It’s worth noting this may just end up being a Pyrrhic victory, given that the New Mexico Federation of Labor has pledged to sue over the ordinance and the state Attorney General’s Office has said Sandoval County didn’t have the authority to pass it in the first place.

Jay Block, one of the Sandoval County commissioners who sponsored the ordinance, counters that there’s precedent for what Sandoval County has done, and he accuses Attorney General Hector Balderas of using his office as a political weapon in an election year.

While there’s a possibility that the ordinance ends up being invalidated by a court, Sandoval County leaders at least took action and did what they believed was best to bring more jobs to their community.