Forced unionism could screw up the Super Bowl

How would you like it if your employer said, “We’d like to offer you the job you’ve applied for.  Are you aware you will have to pay union dues even if you don’t want to belong to the union?”

That practice is called ‘forced unionism,’ and it happens every day in the U.S. in states that have no ‘right to work’ provision for workers.

As the date nears for the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, forced unionism could screw it up.

That’s because in Indiana, Democrats in the state legislature have gone to war against Republicans who want to protect workers’ rights with a right to work bill.  Democrats in the state legislature have gone on strike. The Indianapolis Star explained it:

“Democrats are attending committee hearings and willing to vote on any other bill. But not ‘right to work,’ which bans companies and unions from negotiating a contract that requires fees even of nonunion members.”

Here’s what this means. Democrats in Indiana are embracing a central tenet of the Left. Even if you don’t want to belong to the union, you have to pay dues to the union.

That is not a practice worthy of tolerating in a free country.

Unions are fine—workers should have the right to organize and belong if they desire.

Those who do not should not have to hand over their hard-earned money for a service they do not want to receive.

An Associated Press story explains how Teamsters’ unions are considering a Super Bowl attack:  “clogging city streets with trucks and electricians staging a slowdown at the convention center, site of the NFL village.”

Too bad the Super Bowl isn’t being held in a state where workers are actually free to make their own decisions about what to do with their personal money.

Even some union members are angry about it, not just in Indiana. Michigan Capitol Confidential interviewed a UAW member who said:

Union members need to embrace right-to-work legislation because it represents a return to a worker being able to exercise their First Amendment rights of Freedom of Association. Anyone has the right to be in a union – but only if they choose to do so. To force someone into a relationship with an outside third party, simply as a condition of employment, is a violation of their First Amendment rights.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Jan. 20, 2012)