Labor

Federal labor laws were original written in the 1930’s and have changed little since then, becoming an outmoded relic that is no longer suited to the issues that workers and employers face in our 21^st Century economy.

The industrial economy where employees stayed with one employer for decades and worked on an assembly line where their unique skills and abilities weren’t important is no longer the norm. Employees today more often want flexible schedules, freedom to apply their knowledge and training, the ability to show initiative, and compensation based on the value of their own contribution. And they want to decide for themselves whether or not to join a union.

U.S. labor policy should be updated to ensure that employees and employers are able to bargain in good faith with each other and reach terms agreeable to both parties. The right to join a union should be protected, as should the right to opt out of union membership. This means supporting Right to Work laws, ensuring workers get a real vote on union recognition and not just a card-check process, and protecting whistle-blowers who expose union corruption.

Taxpayers have too often been ill-served by government employee unions that put their interests over the public’s, using political clout to negotiate unsustainable compensation deals with politicians they helped put in office. The collective bargaining process between government and its employees must be reformed to ensure government services are not compromised.