Anyone following what's going on in Wisconsin?

[scottw]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

The 2 places where I've worked in a Union environment neither was Mandatory to join the union.

of the 2, GE did require you to pay a fee to the union if you didn't join that was equal to the Union Dues.

The Shipyard, where I am currently working, is completely voluntary, no fee charged if you decide to not to join.

I'm not %100 sure but I think it is Illegal to force somebody to join a Union. I'll see igf I can find something on the Internet about it.

I said "generally" I believe one of the Wisconsin issues would allow teachers out of the union....dues are not optional in many instances


NPR
Weakening Labor, Weakening Democrats

If you ask labor professor Paul Mishler from Indiana University in South Bend, this battle is only nominally about state budgets.

"What they see as a fiscal crisis is really an excuse to go after the social and political strength of the unions," he says.

The impetus for change is chiefly coming from Republican legislators who realize if they can weaken the unions, they also weaken the Democrats, who are often backed by labor.

Mishler also sees it as another front in the struggle between businesses and workers.

In Indiana, the Chamber of Commerce is a driving force behind efforts to make paying union dues optional. Republican Rep. Gerald Torr ushered that bill through a key committee Monday.

"If the union is providing a good service ... and all of those employees decide to continue paying dues, this bill will have zero effect on them and they will still have the same collective bargaining rights that they have today," Torr says.

Actually, in the 22 states where union dues are voluntary, unions are exceptionally weak. People tend not to volunteer to pay union dues any more than they volunteer to pay taxes.

Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University, says so-called right-to-work states, where union dues are voluntary, do tend to see more job growth.