Springfield, VA (August 28, 2008) \u2013 Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and National Right to Work Committee, made the following statement regarding this year\u2019s Labor Day holiday.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Labor Day, many Americans will get a much deserved day off. But as we celebrate the free-enterprise system and the value of hard work, union officials are mounting an unprecedented, billion-dollar campaign effort to grab more forced unionism power. Their goal is to elect a President and a filibuster-proof Senate that will give them even more tools to force workers to join or pay dues to a union.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout the United States, more than 12 million American workers are already compelled to pay dues or fees to unions as a condition of employment. And millions more workers are required by law to accept a union\u2019s so-called \u2018representation,\u2019 even if they would rather negotiate with their employer themselves on their own merits. Today, union bosses are going all out to obtain even more special privileges to help bolster their forced-dues-paying ranks.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrganized labor is intent on passage of several sweeping bills \u2013 including the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill, which would make workers even more vulnerable to union intimidation during union organizing drives, and the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Act, which would force hundreds of thousands of America\u2019s first responders into union collectives by federal fiat. The National Right to Work Committee is mobilizing its 2.2 million members to combat these and other bills intended to corral even more workers into forced unionism.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, many workers feel they have little choice but to pay for organized labor\u2019s billion-dollar 2008 election campaign, and many workers are unaware of their right to object. That\u2019s why the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is providing free legal aid to thousands of employees nationwide seeking to get their money back. In fact, in October Foundation attorneys will argue their fourteenth case accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court \u2013 a case which defends the right of workers to refuse to pay for union activism using their mandatory union dues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Labor Day, we commend those courageous American workers who are standing up to union intimidation, harassment, and even violence as they defend their cherished freedoms of conscience, speech, and association. And we work toward the day when no American is forced to pay tribute to an unwanted union.\u201d<\/p>\n