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Month in Review
February 1997
Unions Work Against Workers	Some Constitutional scholars say President Clinton is violating his obligation to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," by not upholding the Supreme Court's 1988 decision in the Beck case. What that decision said, in essence, is that workers cannot be forced to pay dues or fees to subsidize union activity not related to collective bargaining. In 1992, the Labor Department under the Bush administration issued regulations requiring unions to publicly reveal what portion of their dues workers could keep. President Bush also ordered federal contractors to tell workers the same thing. But President Clinton, only days after taking office, rescinded both actions -- leaving workers once again in the dark as to what was happening to their dues money. Average dues paid by the ten million private-sector union members has climbed to $400 per year. Observers say that the 40 percent of union workers who regularly vote Republican probably oppose the millions of dollars being spent by their unions to boost Democratic candidates and causes -- and probably would like to have their money back. After Washington state voters reformed the union dues process in 1992, the number of union teachers who contributed to their organization's political action committee plunged from 48,000 to only 8,000. Unions' open defiance of the Beck decision prompted the National Labor Relations Board to rule last month that unions must supply financial data to workers who request a partial refund of their dues. Reformers want any new campaign finance bill to contain language codifying into law the Beck decision. Source: Editorial, "Exempt from Reform," Wall Street Journal, February 10, 1997.
Assault on Workers' Rights	Some labor and political experts charge that Republicans are in danger of embracing a flawed solution to the problem of union bosses who use member dues for political purposes. The Supreme Court's Communications Workers of America v. Beck decision of 1988 held that employees cannot be forced to pay for non-collective bargaining activities, such as political contributions. Reformers want that decision codified into law. But GOP leaders are embracing a solution which will actually thwart efforts to eliminate compulsory union dues for political purposes, critics warn. At issue is a bill introduced last year by Rep. Harris Fawell (R-Ill.), which would give sole responsibility for enforcing Beck to the National Labor Relations Board -- an agency which has demonstrated hostility to workers' First Amendment rights, political analysts charge. Labor reform advocates recommend, instead, passage of the National Right to Work Act, introduced last month by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) -- which would end compulsory unionism and thus protect the political rights of workers. Supporters claim that 80 percent of Americans support the National Right to Work Act. Source: Reed E. Larson (National Right to Work Committee), "Time to End Compulsory Unionism," Wall Street Journal, February 26, 1996.