Editor, Times-Union: I have followed the Right to Work legislation as diligently as possible, having read the bill that is heading for the State senate this week. Some things I have noticed that need to be mentioned to the public.
1. This law will have no effect on current union/management contracts. If you work at a company with a union and a contract you will still be paying dues and be required to join the union to work for that company. This is big for the fact that GM signed a three-year contract last fall while Chrysler signed a four-year contract about the same time. The NFLPA signed a multi-year contract last fall, too. So that money is continuing to fill union coffers like it or not.
2. The unions will have the golden opportunity to do something only businesses have until now. That is to make a “free trial offer” to represent employees at non union companies.
Imagine the excitement at the Toyota/Subaru plant or the Honda plant when unions start advertising on billboards and in the media saying “Let us organize and represent you free of charge, no cost to you.” We could easily see union membership double or triple. Just think, union membership at 20 to 30 percent. I’m sure the business leaders would not mind that too much.
3. Now to the lost money part. When this law takes effect in March the state must immediately stop collecting fees it charges for any license it requires a person to have to work in the state. It would also stop fees for any competency testing to get these licenses. Now seeing that applies to CDLs for truck drivers, health professional licenses for nurses and aides, liquor licenses for bartenders, and the many more licenses the state requires and charges for. Now thinking about all these licenses and testing fees, I believe that the state is looking at easily looking at losing hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars a year in licensing and testing fees.
So to the Republicans who are on the fence in the State senate, consider voting against this. It’s just not worth the divisive frustration it has brought to the state.
