Congressional lawmakers are considering competing bills with different views on union rights for workers.
At a U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on Nov. 30, Republicans favored the National Right to Work Act, which would prevent labor unions from requiring workers to pay union dues if they don't want to belong to the union.
Democrats supported the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO) Act, which would nullify laws in 28 states that say workers can't be required to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of the job. The PRO Act also would replace secret-ballot union elections with card-check elections and prohibit captive-audience meetings by employers to discuss union activity. Both bills have been introduced but have not passed the House or Senate.
Republican Praise Right to Work Laws
The term "right to work" means permitting workers to not pay union dues, even when they're part of a unionized workplace and covered under a collective bargaining agreement.
Corporations, especially in the manufacturing industry, often seek out states with "right to work" laws when they're deciding where to move or expand, according to Mark Mix, president of the Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in Springfield, Va.
A nationwide right to work law "is critical for creating jobs and ending forced, automatic unionization for the American people," said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.
Right to work states "have increased manufacturing employment,...
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