[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 65 (Monday, May 14, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S4892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HELMS (for himself, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. 
        Smith of New Hampshire):
  S. 873. A bill to preserve and protect the free choice of individual 
employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain 
from such activities; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I am honored to join my distinguished 
colleagues, the Senator from South Carolina, Mr. Thurmond, the Senator 
from New Hampshire, Mr. Smith, and the Senator from Arkansas, Mr. 
Hutchinson, in introducing legislation to protect workers from having 
to pay dues to a labor union simply to keep their jobs. This bill, 
briefly titled the National Right to Work Act, repeals Federal labor 
laws allowing union bosses to coerce dues from workers who want to go 
to work, earn honest paychecks and support their families without being 
forced to support a labor organization.
  The legislation we are introducing today proposes to put an end to 
more than half a century of Federal labor policy that directly 
contradicts Thomas Jefferson's famous statement that ``to compel a man 
to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which 
he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical.''
  Specifically, the National Right to Work Act proposes the repeal of 
those sections of the National Labor Relations Act, NLRA, and the 
Railway Labor Act, RLA, that allow unions to enter into collective 
bargaining agreements forcing workers to pay dues as a condition of 
employment.
  These so-called ``union security'' clauses have been a central tenet 
of Federal labor law despite interfering with the rights of freedom of 
speech and association that most Americans take for granted. Under this 
unfair Federal scheme, labor organizations succeeded in creating 
workplaces where individual workers have two choices: 1. they either 
must march in lockstep with local union bosses; or 2. they must forfeit 
their job.
  That's clearly not fair, and in response to the excesses of this 
abuse of the free association rights of employees, Congress enacted the 
Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. While this reform bill did not fully right 
the wrongs of earlier labor legislation, it did grant States the 
ability to pass legislation overriding the NLRA regarding union 
security clauses.
  Since Taft-Hartley freed State legislature to protect workers, 21 
States have passed Right to Work laws, and, not surprisingly, these 
States have reaped the economic benefits associated with a fair and 
free labor market. In fact, the 21 States that have passed Right to 
Work laws have outperformed non-Right to Work States in job creation, 
real income, and entrepreneurial growth.
  But much work remains unfinished. More than 8 million workers in 29 
non-Right to Work States must pay dues to a union as a condition of 
employment, and another 1 million workers in Right to Work States are 
forced to pay dues under the Federal Railway Labor Act, which cannot be 
preempted by State Right to Work laws.
  Make no mistake, that warms the hearts of union bosses who take 
advantage of union security clauses to use workers as cash machines. 
This gives them an endless source of funding for union activities, 
including activities not related to collective bargaining activity. The 
growing influence unions have on the political process--financed by 
coerced worker dues--is openly acknowledged. During the past election 
cycle, the AFL-CIO bragged of its plans to spend more than $40 million 
on worker-subsidized political activity, nearly all on behalf of 
liberal candidates.
  These politicians who continue to benefit from the Big Labor cash cow 
have been successful in protecting the union's ability to coerce money 
from their membership. But the American people aren't fooled. For more 
than 20 years, Americans have consistently told pollsters that they 
believe that a requirement to pay union dues as a condition of 
employment is unfair. In 1997, a Mason-Dixon poll found that 77 percent 
of Americans agreed with the statement that workers should be able to 
keep their job regardless of whether they belong to unions.
  They're right, and I hope that this legislation will soon put an end 
to congressional tolerance of forced worker dues. I'm proud to stand 
with my distinguished colleagues in supporting the National Right to 
Work Act.
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