Friday, December 14, 2012

Quick UPDATE to my post below that mentioned the Mark Mix “Right to Work” Article that appeared in the NY Post on December 12th


There have been many postings in the aftermath of the recent passage of Michigan’s “Right to Work” laws  —  here are just a few of the opinions PRO and CON that have been expressed

This post is PRO:

“Right-To-Work Shifts America” in Forbes on 12/12/12 contributed-to by Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/garyshapiro/2012/12/12/right-to-work-shifts-america/

“It’s not that Americans don’t want other Americans to do well and be paid well. They do. But they may feel, as I do, that unions are increasingly an anachronism serving mainly to protect workers from market forces, preserve a failing status quo, fund union leaders and support Democratic politicians.” ...
The disconnect between what unions demand and Americans want is clear. Union influence in politics is the Democrats’ Achilles’ heel. ...  Americans want their nation’s businesses to be competitive and their professionals in government to be fairly paid. What they don’t want is bought politicians, incompetence protected and inefficiency mandated in our companies and in government.... Voters do matter and either unions or the Democratic Party must change. Or the American voters will change who is in charge.
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These posts are about the general reaction to the Michigan law:

According to a post on Bloomberg,  “Michigan Right to Work Battle Could Cost Labor Political Clout” by Chris Christoff on December 10th,  Michigan’s passage of “right to work” laws for employees generally and pubic service employees in particular has some New York labor leaders worried. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-10/michigan-right-to-work-battle-could-cost-labor-political-clout.html

Mr. Christoff specifically quoted Stephen Madarasz, a spokesman for the Civil Service Employees Association, New York state’s biggest public-worker union,. “Michigan’s push for right-to-work is a “sad day in America” and cause for concern, given the state’s historic role in the labor movement.... We have a great deal of concern about an extremist agenda to undermine working people in this country.”
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“New York teachers denounces Michigan’s right-to-work law”  (Sic)
NY TEACHERS UNION – DECEMBER 12, 2012  –  BY: GILLIAN BURDETT
http://www.examiner.com/article/new-york-teachers-denounces-michigan-s-right-to-work-law

The New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) issued a December11th  statement showing support for the Michigan unions that lost in their efforts to stop legislation that outlaws “closed shops” in the state.  The NYSUT statement warned that, “If it could happen in Michigan, it could happen anywhere.” In response to the passage of the Michigan “right to work” laws, NYSUT  is promoting an online petition created by the American Federation of Teachers to show their support for Michigan workers.

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The same report at Examiner.com indicated that  supporters of the newly passed Michigan laws say that states with right-to-work laws attract businesses, spurring economic growth. Scott Hagerstrom of Americans for Prosperity, in a December 11, 2012  interview with MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews, has said “right to work” laws are about freedom for workers, allowing employees free choice when it comes to union membership. Americans for Prosperity is a political advocacy organization founded in 2004 by Charles and David Koch of Koch industries.
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The following post is clearly CON:

In a blog, KnickLedger.com, which obviously skews in a Democrat direction was this polemical post by  Stephen Pampinella, “Why right to work would ruin New York”; posted on December 12, 2012; it directly addressed the Mark Mix column in the NY Post.
http://www.knickledger.com/2012/12/why-right-to-work-would-ruin-new-york/

“....Mix is falsely presenting right to work as an issue of individual freedom to obscure the real purpose of unions: to provide collective solidarity in the work place by preventing major corporations from abusing the rights of individual workers. A ‘closed union shop’, one in which all employees pay membership dues, solves something that political scientists call free-rider problem.... To be clear: unions are not businesses seeking to maximize profit off of union dues. A union’s fundamental purpose is to protect its workers. Now, we can have a legitimate discussion about how unions sometimes ignore other pressing social issues because they are too focused on the short-term gains of their members. But right to work doesn’t solve that problem or protect the labor rights of ordinary employees. It functions merely as a cover to dismantle organized labor through false appeals to individualism....  This sub-optimal outcome is precisely the desire of organizations like Mark Mix’s National Right to Work Committee. This isn’t about freedom, it’s about busting unions by creating an incentive for workers to turn against each other. If right to work came to New York, it would result in lower wages and lower quality working conditions for millions of working- and middle-class New Yorkers. Since our state is already the most unequal in the entire nation, bringing right to work to New York would result in catastrophe.”

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