Opinion: S.C. can celebrate a milestone for worker freedom

Posted

On Labor Day 2021, we should celebrate the dedication and resilience of the working men and women who helped us get through the challenges of the past year.

And, as a resident of South Carolina, you can celebrate the fact that your state and 26 other Right to Work states across the country are now home to a majority of America's working people. This means that workers in South Carolina and most employees in America can now freely choose whether to join or financially support a union or abstain from doing so.

An overwhelming majority of Americans have demonstrated in polls for years that they believe all workers should have this freedom. Now, the majority of employed people do. Additionally, the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision, argued and won by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, ensures every public sector employee across the country enjoys Right to Work protections under the First Amendment.

Even amid all this progress, however, in 23 states, union bosses are still granted the power by law to force every worker in a private sector workplace - even those who don't want the union and never asked for its so-called "representation" - to fund union boss activities or be fired.

Right to Work protects each worker's freedom of choice, but its advantages hardly stop there. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the robust economic opportunity of Right to Work states fueled a recovery far stronger than that of their forced-unionism counterparts.

According to Labor Department stats from July, from April 2020 to April 2021, manufacturing payroll jobs bounced back in Right to Work states by 10.1%, a roughly 60% stronger rally than the increase posted by non-Right to Work states over the same year-long frame.

That impressive bounce back is just another example of Right to Work's proven track record of job creation. Between 2010 and 2020, Right to Work states saw the total number of people employed grow by 11%. That's more than four times the 2.4% gain in non-Right to Work states over the same period, according to an analysis of federal government statistics compiled by the National Institute for Labor Relations Research.

With growth like that, it's no wonder that Right to Work states emerged from the pandemic with almost a million more employed people than non-Right to Work states, according to the Labor Department's Household Survey.

The NILRR analysis also found that, after adjusting for the cost of living, the mean after-tax household income in Right to Work states was roughly $4,300 higher than households in forced-unionism states in 2019, the most recent year for which household income data is available.

The connection between Right to Work laws and better economic performance is not a surprise. Business experts consistently rank the presence of Right to Work laws as one of the most important factors companies consider when deciding where to expand or relocate their plants and facilities, where they will create new jobs and new opportunities.

Right to Work at its core, however, is a moral case - the economic benefits are just the icing on the cake. Workers should be free to decide, free from government-imposed coercion, whether they will join a union or fund its activities. Right to Work does nothing to prevent a worker from associating with a union voluntarily.

Union bosses must also adapt and become more responsive to workers under Right to Work. If union officials cannot rely on the law to force workers to subsidize them, they must work harder to retain employee support. Workers can always withhold their dues from union hierarchies that are ineffective, corrupt or prioritize divisive politics over workers' needs.

Churches, civic associations and thousands of other private organizations across the country succeed on voluntary association. Despite the protests of union officials, there is no reason a union - made up of individual workers who freely choose to band together - cannot do the same.

So this Labor Day, celebrate the fact that a majority of employees enjoy workplace freedom, thanks to South Carolina and other Right to Work states safeguarding that fundamental right.