As we brace ourselves for tonight’s "Job Summit," brought to you courtesy of the Obama Administration and its Big Labor allies, it’s worth considering an idea that might actually help raise the employment rate — passage of more Right to Work laws.

Studies have repeatedly shown that forced unionism states lag behind Right to Work states in terms of job creation, economic growth, and worker income. If the Obama Administration is really interested in creating more jobs, it should take heed of this study from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research:

For many years, U.S. Labor Department data have shown that states with Right to Work laws on the books have far faster private-sector job growth than states that do not protect employees from federal policies authorizing the termination of workers for refusal to pay dues or fees to an unwanted union.

Between 1995 and 2005, private-sector jobs in Right to Work states increased by a net 20.2%. That’s a 79% greater increase than the relatively small increase in private-sector jobs experienced by non-Right to Work states over this period.

Of course, the case for Right to Work laws rests on more than just employment numbers, as no worker should be forced to join a union or pay union dues just to keep a job. Unfortunately, union bosses and their political allies have never much cared for workers’ individual freedoms, but will the prospect of skyrocketing unemployment rates cause them to change their tune?  We won’t hold our breath.

Regular Freedom@Work readers may remember a Foundation lawsuit filed in September against the Jefferson County Teacher Association union and its national affiliate, the NEA. Right to Work attorneys are attacking the union hierarchy’s overall monopoly bargaining privilege, as well as its illegal union membership policy that automatically enrolls teachers as union members, holds them hostage in full union membership, and forces unwilling educators to pay union dues.

Although the embarrassment of the lawsuit forced Kentucky union bosses to announce a few minor concessions, Right to Work attorneys are pressing forward to take down the union’s entire forced union dues scheme. Foundation VP Stefan Gleason appeared on the nationally-syndicated Francene Show last Tuesday to discuss the case. Click here to listen or use the embedded player below:

You can also listen to the Foundation’s podcast via iTunes or manually subscribe to the feed. 

Grocery Store Union Bosses Face Federal Charges After Blocking Workers from Stopping Dues Payments

Local union officials and Fry’s Food Stores management collude illegally to extract forced dues from independent-minded workers

Phoenix, Arizona (December 23, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, five employees from different Fry’s Food Stores locations have filed federal charges challenging their employer’s and a local union’s efforts to block them from stopping the seizure of union dues from their paychecks.

Disgusted with recent union strike threats, large numbers of employees withdrew from the union, but union officials are now retaliating by refusing to honor their legal rights and getting Fry’s management to deduct and forward the union dues money anyway.

Shirley Jones of Mesa, Karen Medley and Elaine Brown of Apache Junction, and Kimberly Stewart and Kristy Dickenson of Queen Creek – acting for other similarly situated employees – filed federal unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99 union bosses and Fry’s.

Click here to read the full release.

Just in time for the Holiday Season, a charming piece of legislation from the great state of Wisconsin:

Wisconsin schools will be required to teach the history of organized labor under a bill signed by Gov. Jim Doyle.

The bill Doyle signed Thursday also requires Wisconsin schools to teach the history or collective bargaining.

The proposal has been around for years but never passed.

This year it cleared the Democratic controlled Legislature despite opposition from school boards and administrators who said they didn’t want the curriculum micromanaged.

Labor unions supported the bill.

No one objects to schools teaching history (which includes the rise of Big Labor in the 20th century), but it’s disturbing to have union-boss allies in the state legislature micromanaging curricula for political reasons and ordering schools to cram union propaganda down impressionable students’ throats. 

For a more balanced view about the impact of union monopoly bargaining, we recommend you check out our page on the history of the Right to Work movement. 

Regular Freedom@Work readers may recall a press release from last week on the Foundation’s efforts to stop a local Arizona union from extracting forced dues dollars from nonunion members in a Right to Work state. Here’s a local television report on the developing situation:

For more information, check out the Foundation’s press release or this recent article from The Arizona Daily Star.

Steelworker Union Bosses Slapped with Federal Charges for Continuing to Seize Dues from Worker’s Paycheck

Union officials ignore own rules to force worker into full dues paying union membership

Des Moines, Iowa (December 31, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Bridgestone Corporation employee filed federal charges after his employer illegally diverted a portion of his paycheck to a local union to which the employee does not belong.

The case points out the need for strong and fully enforced Right to Work laws and other protections against forced unionism abuse. A few Iowa legislators have recently tried to repeal the state’s Right to Work law that makes union membership and dues payment voluntary – even though doing so would lead to employee rights violations on a massive scale.

Terry L. Welch of Polk City filed federal unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against United Steelworkers Local 310 union bosses and Bridgestone.

In October, Welch resigned from the Steelworkers union and revoked his dues deduction authorization. Dues deduction authorizations are used by union officials to automatically withhold union dues from employee paychecks.

Under Iowa’s popular Right to Work law no worker can be required to join or pay any money to a union as a condition of employment. Additionally, the union’s own dues authorization card allows Welch to revoke his authorization at any time.

Click here to read the full release.

One of the earliest supporters of the Right to Work cause was Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille. Over 60 years ago, Cecil B. DeMille took a courageous stand (pdf, page 4) against the forced dues demands of American Federation of Radio Artists union officials, resulting in his being fired from his $100,000 per year job and banned for life from working in radio and television.

For the rest of his illustrious life, DeMille fought tirelessly for the Right to Work principle and against the brute forces of union boss tyranny.  DeMille used his talents to film public appeals on behalf of the Right to Work.  In 1948, DeMille even spoke before Congress in favor of Right to Work legislation (as this recent article from Mises.org reminds us):

The Declaration of Independence specified "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as inalienable rights. The Constitution goes further. The Bill of Rights mentions freedom of speech, press, assembly, worship, and other rights which the state may not invade.

But neither the Declaration nor the Constitution pretends to exhaust the list of man’s God-given and inalienable rights.

One of the most fundamental of those rights is the right to work. I submit that the time has come for Congress to declare it to be the public policy of the United States that every individual should have the right to work, when he pleases, where he pleases, for himself or for whoever wants to hire him — and that the full protection of the government should be put behind this right to work.

Need I point out how basic the right to work is? It is the same as the right to life, for it is by work that men live. Deny the right to work, and you have cut off the right to life.

…

What privilege — I would prefer to say what right — could be more essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness than the right of a man to earn bread for himself and his family — the right to work?

Yet in practice, as this committee knows, the right to work has been violated in a multitude of instances, of which my own case — denial of the right to work because I refused to pay a political assessment to a union — is only one.

What is the reason for this strange inconsistency — for the fact that a clearly established constitutional right has been and can be challenged with impunity?

One reason may be that the courts have never been given a clear mandate by federal law to protect the right to work absolutely and at all events. In fact, nowhere in federal statute law is the positive right to work stated in unqualified terms.

…

[Romanian communist and foreign minister] Ana Pauker will not allow my pictures to be seen on the screens of Rumania because I disagree with her politically.

The American Federation of Radio Artists will not allow my voice to be heard over the microphones of America because I would not pay a political assessment.

I see a pattern there — a pattern that can mean slavery for free men everywhere if it is not broken.

Other Hollywood notables who have given public endorsements of the Right to Work principle include singer Pat Boone and the late Charlton Heston, who served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild union from 1965 to 1971.

And despite Hollywood’s forced union advocates’ continuing support for union boss coercion and intimidation, courageous Hollywood entertainers, crew members, and other entertainment industry professionals continue the principled fight of DeMille, Boone, and Heston to this day.

Right to Work President Mark Mix explains how forced unionism at the Transportation Security Administration threatens to undermine national security: