Alicia Martin tipped her hand and revealed the ideological cards she’s holding in the very first paragraph of her November 2011 column supporting a national right-to-work law. “There was a time in our nation’s history when unions were needed,” she concedes before declaring, “Those days are long gone.”
Right-to-work legislation isn’t about the right to hold a job. It isn’t about stimulating business growth and job development. And it most certainly isn’t about protecting workers’ rights or helping them achieve a better life for themselves and their families. The powerful corporations that funnel money into campaigns to pass right-to-work legislation have little, if any, concern for the well-being of middle class families. Big business supports right-to-work laws for one purpose and one purpose only — to destroy unions. Ms. Martin proclaims that unions no longer have a place in American society. As the president of the Illinois chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, she is speaking for corporate America — not middle class America.
Unions built our nation’s middle class and ended the horrendous exploitation of workers that existed before the labor movement came into its own. It’s no coincidence that our middle class has shrunken as unions have become less powerful. But that’s not enough for Ms. Martin and other right-to-work advocates. They want to destroy unions so that middle class Americans have no one to represent their interests. Without unions, what would Ms. Martin have us do? Simply trust corporate America to give us an even break?
I urge my fellow Illinoisans and all Americans of conscience to fight right-to-work legislation and support unions. Corporate America doesn’t need any additional legislation to help it take over our nation. It’s doing just fine without Ms. Martin’s proposed national right-to-work bill.
John Dunphy
Alton, Ill.
***
To submit a blog to Free Speech Zone, e-mail it to bstack@usw.org. Keep it to 250 words or fewer. You MUST include your full name, hometown, and state. You may attach a photograph of yourself. Please include a phone number. This WILL NOT be published. Posting any given blog is within the discretion of the USW. No blog using foul language (this is a family site), false information (we don’t want to get sued), or unnecessary personal attacks (again, we don’t want to get sued) will be used. Wait a reasonable period of time, then blog again!
Posted December 9, 2011 at 1:26 pm, in Free Speech Zone
