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March 2017
At least two noteworthy anti-worker bills already have been introduced in thecurrent session of Congress – one calling for a national so-called right-to-work(RTW) law, and the other aimed at repealing the Davis-Bacon Act.
While the introduction of those bills has become a yearly event on CapitolHill, the threat of enactment is much higher now. The Republican Party platformendorsed both measures, and President Trump is on record (as recently as earlyFebruary) as a backer of RTW.
As one pro-worker journalist put it, “The practical impact of RTW is to makeevery worker a free rider, able to use the union’s services without paying forthem – and to smash unions by financially crippling them so much that they can’tdefend workers in the first place…. The 66-yearold Davis-Bacon Act preventscut-rate contractors from low-balling workers’ wages on federally fundedprojects.”
AFL-CIO Building Trades Department President Sean McGarvey labeled Davis-Bacon repeal (introduced in the Senate) “the Pay Cut for America’s Workers Act.”
Reacting to the so-called RTW bill (introduced in the House), AFL-CIOPresident Richard Trumka said, “Right to work is a lie dressed up in a feel-goodslogan. It doesn’t give workers freedom – instead, it weakens our right to jointogether and bargain for better wages and working conditions. Its end goal is todestroy unions. Numbers don’t lie. Workers in states with right-to-work lawshave wages that are 12 percent lower. That’s because unions raise wages for allworkers, not just our members.”
Trumka also pointed to a recent Pew survey showing that 60 percent ofAmericans support unions.
“Americans clearly see the value of coming together with their co-workers totackle inequality,” Trumka observed. “Right to work isn’t the will of thepeople; it’s legislation pushed on working people by out-of-touch corporationsthat want to ship jobs overseas, cut health and safety protections, and paylower wages. This is an attempt by corporate CEOs to further tip the scale evenmore in their favor, at working people’s expense.”
He concluded, “Working people were loud and clear in this past election. Wewant an economy that works for all, not just corporations. We know we need torewrite the rules of the economy so that policies like bad trade deals and rightto work aren’t the new norm. President Trump has said he supports unions and thepeople who are our members. He has stood up to corporate Republicans on trade.We call on him to do the same on right to work, and to stand up for everyworker’s right to join a union.”
The national RTW bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Rep.Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina). The Davis- Bacon legislation was introduced bySen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona).
McGarvey said Flake “is completely oblivious to the political undercurrentsrelating to blue-collar economic anxiety that propelled Donald Trump into theWhite House … and possesses a warped sense of empathy when he believes wages of$17.37 and $15.49 an hour – current Davis-Bacon prevailing highway constructionwages for a backhoe operator and a laborer in Arizona – are simply too high fortaxpayer-funded construction projects. At those wage rates, these workers wouldearn, respectively, roughly $35,000 and $31,000 annually. Not exactly a king’sransom.”
# # #
Deceptive Right-to-Work Laws Hurt Everyone
Editor’s note: This information was provided by the AFL-CIO.
By many measures, quality of life is worse in states with right-to-work laws. Wages are lower, people are less likely to have health insurance and the necessary resources for a quality education, poverty levels are higher as are workplace fatality rates.
States with Right-to-Work Laws Have Lower Wages and Incomes
On average, workers in states with right-to-work laws make $6,109 a year (12.1%) less annually than workers in other states ($44,401, compared with $50,511).
Median household income in states with these laws is $8,174 (13.9%) less than in other states ($50,712 vs. $58,886).
29.6 percent of jobs in right-to-work states were in low-wage occupations, compared with 22.8% of jobs in other states.
States with Right-to-Work Laws Have Lower Rates of Health Insurance Coverage
People under the age of 65 in states with right-to-work laws are more likely to be uninsured (13.0%, compared with 9.4% in free-bargaining states).
Only 47% of private-sector employers in states with these laws offer insurance coverage to their employees, compared with 52.2% in other states. That difference is even more pronounced among employers with fewer than 50 workers: only 30.1% offer health insurance compared with 38.1% of small employers in other states.
Workers in right-to-work states also pay a larger share of their health insurance premiums, on average, than those in free-bargaining states (28.5% of the premium compared with 25.4% in free-bargaining states).
States with Right-to-Work Laws Have Higher Poverty and Infant Mortality Rates
Poverty rates are higher in states with right-to-work laws (15.3% overall and 21.4% for children), compared with poverty rates of 12.8% overall and 18.0% for children in states without these laws.
The infant mortality rate is 12.4% higher in states with right to work laws.
States with Right-to-Work Laws Invest Less in Education
States with right-to-work laws spend 32.5% less per pupil on elementary and secondary education than other states.
States with Right-to-Work Laws Have Higher Workplace Fatality Rates
The rate of workplace deaths is 49% higher in states with right-to-work laws, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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