Big Labor’s making us offers we can refuse

Kentucky may rank in the top half of the country overall when it comes to the impact labor unions have
on taxpayers, but it’s mired at the bottom when it comes to policies with the greatest impact on job
creation and economic liberty.

According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s “Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index,” Kentucky offers no
protection for paycheck protection or secret ballots, or from forced unionism – which a right-to-work
law would solve , card check or Project Labor Agreements. (Speaking of right-to-work laws, the Bowling
Green Daily News continues to promote this sound policy for Kentucky.)

The purpose of the index is to: (a) inform taxpayers concerning those areas where government union
lobbyists have maximum sway over policymakers, and (b) to empower citizens to challenge these
unions’ oversized political clout.

An interactive map is included so you can gather intelligence about government employee union activity
in your state.

--Jim Waters

Tennessee provides the right to work

People vote with their feet. We have written before about how 3 times as many people move to Tennessee than Kentucky because of lower tax rates and school choice laws.

Another reason may be that people want to live somewhere they don't have to be forced into joining a labor union. Tennessee is one of 22 states that has Right-to-Work laws which make it illegal to deny employment  based on association with a labor union.

You can view the language of Tennessee's law here. Contact your state legislator, they may be interested in seeing an example.

Just what is prevailing wage?

I wrote yesterday about how researchers at the Mercatus Center suggested that Kentucky repeal prevailing wage laws. The term prevailing wage is probably confusing to those unfamiliar with labor and wage law.

Here is a great resource for understanding just what prevailing wage is and how it applies in Kentucky.

Kentucky leaders, where are our right-to-work laws?

Senator Jim DeMint's office released a report that shows states with right-to-work laws are more successful.  The study found that these 22 states that don't force unionization as a condition of employment have more new residents, new businesses, new jobs, and faster income growth.

With Kentucky's unemployment rate at 10.2%, I think the state could use all those benefits.

So, Kentucky leaders, the question is: why is Kentucky behind on this? Where are right-to-work laws in Kentucky?

When will the 'right to work' -- and prosper -- come to the Bluegrass State?

In today's Wall Street Journal, economists Art Laffer and Stephen Moore deem a recent National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing the equivalent of building a Union Berlin Wall around the borders of forced-union states to keep companies from moving to right-to-work states.

The NRLB complaint follows Boeing's decision to move production of the 787 Dreamliner from Washington, a forced-union state, to right-to-work South Carolina.

"It's the first time a federal agency has intervened to tell an American company where it can and cannot operate a plant within the U.S.," the article states. "It lays the foundation of a regulatory wall with one express purpose: to prevent the direct competition of right-to-work states with union-shop states."

There is one piece of good news to come out of all this, however. As the economists note, this is first time the Left has actually admitted that, as a New York Times editorial puts it, unions are suffering from "the flight of companies to 'Right-to-Work states where workers cannot be required to join a union."

Of course, Laffer, Moore, the Bluegrass Institute and every other conservative observer of labor policy already knew that. One of the reasons we knew is the work of Laffer and Moore in their annual economic competitiveness report, "Rich States, Poor States" published by the American Legislative Exchange Council. Consider:

• States that have right-to-work laws grow faster than states with forced unionism.
  
  
• During the past decade, the right-to-work states grew faster in nearly every respect than their union-shop counterparts:
  
  
  • In Gross State Product: 54.6 percent versus 41.1 percent
    
  • In personal income: 53.3 percent versus 40.6 percent
    
  • In population: 11.9 percent versus 6.1 percent
    
  • In payrolls: 4.1 percent versus -0.6 percent
    
    
• Between 2000 and 2008, nearly 5 million Americans moved from forced-union states to right-to-work ones. "That's one person every minute of the day."
  
  
• Between 1977 and 2007, right-to-work states demonstrated a 23 percent higher per capita income growth rate than forced-union states, which "amounted to a $2,760 larger increase in per-person income in those states. That's a giant differential."
  
  
• Wages rose faster in states that don't require union membership.

First, the federal government assaults the constitutional rights of states and individuals to determine their own health-care policies. Now, they are trying to interfere with a private company's decision to move because it "could not 'afford a work stoppage every three years' as had happened in Washington state over the past decade," according to the WSJ article.

Which gubernatorial candidate would have liked to claim credit for bringing those 1,000 Boeing jobs to Kentucky?

Hmmm. With all this talk about "jobs" we're hearing on the campaign trail in Kentucky's gubernatorial race, will we also hear that one way to attract these jobs is to get rid of our antiquated and costly forced-union rules?

Why don't you let your legislator, or your favorite gubernatorial candidate, know: Kentucky needs to tear down its own job-busting walls and support a right-to-work policy and the economic prosperity it would bring.

Business vs. Labor

As the battle between business and labor grows more contentious, the threat to the private sector is becoming more severe.

This week, Lexington's conservative radio host and blogger Leland Conway chronicled the recent battle between the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Seattle-based company, Boeing. While Kentucky is not involved directly in the battle, we are not immune from such overreach by the federal government.

When Boeing decided to expand its new building operation to South Carolina, the NLRB stepped in and "told" a private sector business they were not allowed because South Carolina was a "right to work" state.

Conway writes, "The NRLB’s decision violates nearly every conceivable sense of corporate sovereignty and property rights. If the decision stands, it will mean the end of rule of law for businesses and will cause many corporations to rethink future investments and perhaps even look to other nations from which to operate their companies."

The significance of such a decision will not only hurt the growth of South Carolina's economy, but it will have staggering implications for businesses and states across the country. This instance of the federal government's encroachment on the private sector should cause great unease for all of us.

Conway closes with this chilling reminder: "What if those jobs had been coming to Kentucky? What if this happened to [your] company? It is time for business to stand up against this continuous intrusion. "