Many of the Red States and Republicans have instituted right-to-work laws to deny workers their right in an onerous manner. What does right-to-work mean? Fortune’s Elizabeth G. Olson explains as follows.
The “right-to-work” law would allow workers to skip paying union dues but still receive the benefits of union-negotiated contracts. Advocates say such employees have been forced into unions, but organized labor calls them “free riders.” Like the minimum wage, right-to-work battles have flared repeatedly for more than a half-century after workers toiling in onerous circumstances — not unlike what some in Asian factories face today — won the right to unite and bargain for wages and workplace conditions. But the nation never completely embraced a uniform view of worker rights.
In a peculiarly American way of adopting names that can be contrary to what they can mean, proponents called their effort “right to work.” At first glance, this “seems to be a declaration that there is a right to have a job,” notes Dan Graff, a professor with the Higgins Labor Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame, who has studied the impact of such a law in Indiana. “This country has a different definition of this phrase than everyone else in the world,” he says. “The phrase is deliberately meant to confuse. A Texas newspaper columnist started calling it that decades ago, and it was picked up to mean working without having to be a member of a union.”
In other words, right-to-work laws are just union-busting techniques that take advantage of the shortsightedness of some humans and use it against them. Recent teacher strikes are making this technique moot. As reported in the Guardian,
America’s education system has reached a breaking point. After years of cuts to teachers’ wages and education budgets, teachers across the US have taken action – walking out on the job in states including West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona. More strikes are planned and the teachers have become empowered by material gains in wages and funding as legislators scramble to get them back to work. But the crisis remains. Public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17% lower than those of comparable workers in 2015 – a gap that has risen from just 1.8% lower in 1994, according to the Economics Policy Institute.
A few weeks ago I wrote the article titled “Are the teachers’ ‘strikes’ the beginning of a real worker revolt” stating,
America is in need of a real worker revolt. The Fight for $15 has been ongoing, but to many, it did not feel like a general workers movement but more a fight by those at the economic fringe who need quick relief. The teachers’ strikes are different for it tells a different story, an abysmal pay and the disrespect teachers must endure. The recent actions by teachers in three states, West Virginia, Colorado, and Kentucky are likely just the tip of the iceberg. Teachers throughout the country are discontented, and given the location of these actions, economics may be starting to stump ideology. These actions are happening in the Red States.
Teachers throughout the country complain about having to take 2 or more jobs beyond their teaching positions. That is a disservice not only to the teachers but the students. After all, an overworked teacher’s time is limited. It is exciting watching teachers throughout the country start asserting their worth by demanding a well-deserved pay increase.
Teachers made a significant change in tactics as stated in the Guardian. They decided to become activists. They decided to become more militant.
Beller said that in the past the union had done lobby days, but never went so far as to encourage members to take off personal days en masse. She said she was inspired to push for more militant action after watching the successful teachers’ strike in West Virginia. “We saw Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arizona of course, and that momentum that has been building in these ‘right-to-work states’ is inspiring,” said Beller.
More importantly, teachers decided to disregard the implicit weakness that right-to-work states imparted on them. They decided to take matters into their own hands.
Teachers in North Carolina, who were legally barred from collective bargaining, have had trouble attracting members, who don’t see the union as providing much support. “For years, people would say you don’t have a real union in North Carolina, but what we have been saying for so long is that a union is a group of people that come together with similar struggles and decide together to choose something better for themselves,” said Beller.
Now, though, they are attracting new members because the union is taking more direct action. “If we want to be a union, we must act like a union,” said Beller. “We may not have collective bargaining rights, but we can act like a union. What we have seen in other states is just because something isn’t legal doesn’t mean we can’t do it.” “We are done being the frog that is being boiled,” said Beller. “We are ready to show up on 16 May and make a show of power and strength.”
Teachers with their actions are making right-to-work laws moot as they use direct action to force the states to concede to their demands. Workers for both government and private corporations that are underpaid must do the same. It is time that workers assert their worth.
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