This week, Governor Walker and the Republican leadership are going to hold an extraordinary session of the WI Legislature to force Right to Work. This coming Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday…thousands of workers from around the state will be descending on Madison to protest this incredible action. Consider the effect this could have on the Green Bay Packers. The NFLPA has already released a statement opposing the bill.
Right to work is about silencing our voice so we can’t speak out about lower wages and mistreatment at work. RTW is an attack on all Wisconsin Families:
The out-of-state millionaires and billionaires who are working with extreme politicians here in Wisconsin to push Right to Work don’t care if you live in a union household or a non-union household because Right to Work lowers wages for all families. Everyone who lives in Right to Work states make up to $5,000 less per year than folks who do the same job in Non-Right to Work states.
RTW is not the way we do things in Wisconsin. It cripples our fundamental right to join together, stick together and have a meaningful voice in the workplace:
We have a tradition here in Wisconsin of strong communities who take care of one another. Right to Work means we won’t have the freedom to “have each other’s backs” and bargain with our employers as we see fit. Right now, workers throughout Wisconsin and across the country are gathering in Wisconsin to fight back, together.
We are using the tool Governor Walker is most afraid of: our collective voice. RTW is a distraction from what we sent our elected officials to Madison to do:
RTW backers should focus on creating good jobs and healthy communities instead of playing political games with unnecessary RTW legislation.
RTW is Government Intrusion in the Workplace:
Extreme Republican politicians like to talk a big game about freedom and the free market, but RTW is government telling people like you and me how we can negotiate with our bosses. Government should stay out of private contracts and let us work together with our workplaces to create a safe, stable and skilled workforce with good jobs. Apparently our freedoms end where big checks from out-of-state millionaires and billionaires begin.
Making Wisconsin a Right to Work state will not create jobs:
Seven of the ten states with the highest unemployment levels have passed Right to Work. Even the people who work for the National Right to Work Committee say it won’t. Recently, Stanley Greer, a spokesman for the National Right to Work Committee stated that, “We’re not purporting to prove that right-to-work produces superior economic performance.”
Companies looking for new places to locate are not looking for Right to Work legislation:
Employers say RTW is not important. On annual surveys of manufacturers by Area Development magazine, RTW never ranked in the top 10 factors influencing location decisions.
Right to Work HARMS the things that companies DO look for when thinking about relocation:
Businesses look for a highly skilled workforce capable of doing the job before anything else.
RTW laws undermine union training and apprenticeship programs. Many unions train workers at their own expense. RTW removes the funding sources of well-respected training and apprenticeship programs that benefit business and the entire community.
RTW backers talk about “freedom” to deceive us. Right to Work isn’t about freedom at all: The same people who support Right to Work also support moving workers into part-time positions. The same people who support Right to Work also support Offshoring profits and shipping jobs to countries with subpar working conditions. The same people who support Right to Work support breaking down laws that protect our health and safety on the job. None of these things is about freedom, they are about maximizing profits for the wealthiest people in the nation. So is Right to Work.
No one is legally allowed to be forced to join a union:The Supreme Court of the United States has already protected Americans from being forced to join anything. It is the law of the land. Right to Work is about silencing your voice and mine so we can’t speak out about mistreatment at work.