{"id":40119,"date":"2017-02-01T11:32:04","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T16:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/?p=40119"},"modified":"2017-02-01T11:32:04","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T16:32:04","slug":"whos-behind-national-right-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/whos-behind-national-right-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Who’s Behind National Right to Work?","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Who\u2019s behind right-to-work?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ignoring the facts about \u201cright-to-work,\u201d<\/a> far-right politicians across the country are promoting these deceptive policies as payback to their Big Business donors. By weakening workers\u2019 ability to have a say about their job, right to work weakens unions\u2019 ability to serve as an advocate for all workers and a check against corporate greed.
\nWithout solid evidence to back their claims, the politicians advancing right-to-work legislation depend on a coordinated network of extremist right-wing groups to provide resources, research, and an echo chamber that pave the way for right to work.<\/p>\n

The most well-known of these cash-flush special interest groups include the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Right to Work Committee.<\/strong> Read on to learn more about the groups working overtime to make every state a right-to-work state.<\/p>\n

ALEC<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Right to work has gained some momentum as result of the collusion between Big Business and allied lawmakers involved in ALEC, an established conservative group backed by corporate special interests that peddles influence with state legislators. While much of its work has gone on behind closed doors, several media outlets<\/a> and the Center for Media and Democracy have recently exposed how ALEC operates, peeling back the curtain on the significant political influence it wields at the state level. ALEC gives companies and politicians a shared role in developing its legislative prototypes<\/a>, which are then introduced in copycat fashion by its members in legislatures nationwide. As part of its extremist agenda, ALEC and its members aim to limit the rights of workers and their unions through initiatives such as right to work. Check out Progress Missouri\u2019s ALEC expos\u00e9<\/a>, which reveals just how similar Missouri\u2019s proposed right-to-work bill is to ALEC\u2019s draft legislation.
\nIn the ultimate irony, ALEC gives corporations a voice and a vote in order to rob workers of theirs. ALEC\u2019s leadership and membership include executives<\/a> from corporations like Comcast and Walmart that are notorious for their low-wage, anti-worker business practices.\u00a0 ALEC is also tied to heavy hitters in the Tea Party movement, like the billionaire Koch brothers, who channel their vast wealth to far-right groups and politicians and helped orchestrate Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker\u2019s repeal of public employees\u2019 collective bargaining rights.<\/p>\n

U.S. Chamber of Commerce<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As the nation\u2019s most powerful lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made right to work one of its top priorities<\/a>. The U.S. Chamber and its state affiliates have issued misleading reports<\/a>, launched PR blitzes, and used their lobbying muscle to advance right-to-work legislation across the country. Like ALEC, corporations funnel money to the prominent lobbying force to promote their agenda in Congress and in the states. The U.S. Chamber has been campaigning against unions, fair labor practices, increases in the minimum wage, and legal protections for America\u2019s workers for nearly a century.
\nWhile the Chamber advocates that workers benefiting from a union contract should not have to pay the union any fees, the Chamber does not appear to hold itself to the same standards. Click here<\/a> to view a local Chamber\u2019s double standard on right to work, which surfaced when the area\u2019s union Building Trades Council inquired whether it would be possible to be a member of the Chamber but not pay dues. The Chamber responded that \u201cIt would be against Chamber by-laws and policy to consider any organization or business a member without dues being paid. The vast majority of the Chamber\u2019s annual revenues come from member dues, and it would be unfair to the other members to allow an organization not paying dues to be included in member benefits.\u201d
\nFor more about the U.S. Chamber, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

National Right to Work<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The National Right to Work Committee and its legal arm, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, are longtime proponents of right to work. The group claims to be a \u201cworker advocate,\u201d but an examination of its press releases issued between 2003 and 2005 showed no reference to any attempt to improve benefits or working conditions for workers; and only one mention of increasing wages. Meanwhile, the organization continuously pushes reports with outdated and flawed information<\/a> to advance right to work. National Right to Work refuses to disclose its donors. However, like ALEC, the group has connections to the ultra-conservative Koch brothers<\/a>.
\nFor more about National Right to Work, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What About Corporations?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In addition to hiding behind these special-interest groups, thanks to Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Citizens United<\/em>, corporations have significant leeway to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to influence elections and policy\u2014without having to disclose their role. Since that landmark decision, record sums of money have been spent by outside groups to scale back protections for workers, and it is no coincidence that right to work has recently gained momentum.
\nDespite the challenges of tracking specific businesses and donors that are involved in promoting right to work, it\u2019s clear that those behind these efforts have deep pockets. In 2012, Indiana\u2019s airwaves were flooded with ads for right to work featuring top Republican lawmakers, who refused to share how the ads were funded. Public records reveal<\/a> that the Indiana Opportunity Fund, a group founded by Republican activist Jim Bopp, spent $600,000 on ad buys. With laws granting anonymity to his donors, Bopp wouldn\u2019t disclose where the money came from.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who\u2019s behind right-to-work? Ignoring the facts about \u201cright-to-work,\u201d far-right politicians across the country are promoting these deceptive policies as payback to their Big Business donors. By weakening workers\u2019 ability to have a say about their job, right to work weakens unions\u2019 ability to serve as an advocate for all workers and a check against corporate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":9,"featured_media":40122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44,300,12,9,988,18,1],"tags":[],"member_types":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWho's Behind National Right to Work? - SMART Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/whos-behind-national-right-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who's Behind National Right to Work? - SMART Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who\u2019s behind right-to-work? Ignoring the facts about \u201cright-to-work,\u201d far-right politicians across the country are promoting these deceptive policies as payback to their Big Business donors. 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