Ben Johnson, former union president and current right to work supporter with Progressive Labor Solutions, has written an op-ed piece for the Washington Times that details why he opposes agency fees. He has made some excellent points on why right to work laws help everyone involved, including the unions. Some of those points are detailed below, but additional ones and Mr. Johnson’s full article may be found here.
- Although unions are “membership” organizations, forced fees permit them to believe they no longer have to work to recruit non-members;
- Because unions no longer need to work for their fees, they have evolved to think they know what’s best for workers, rather than the workers knowing what’s best for themselves. They have become out of touch with workers’ needs;
- This belief that they know what’s best creates an environment where they do not have to reflect morally on their actions, creating an “ends justify the means” mentality;
- The system is subject to “self-deception,” where the union forgets employees sometimes join because they are already paying dues, rather than because they want to, which creates an illusion membership numbers mean something to the greater good.
Although the causes of declining union memberships are more complex than a sole source, by removing agency fees, unions will be forced to change in order to gain memberships. Then, hopefully, they will learn to serve the workers instead of believing the workers are there to serve them.
