Right-to-Work Push Makes Colorado Free
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: John Kartch
1 APRIL 2008
202-785-0266
Right-to-Work Push Makes Colorado Free
Forced Unionization and Compulsory Dues Paying Must be Stopped
Washington, D.C. — The Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) today praised the efforts of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry board’s working to pass right to work legislation in Colorado. The passage of right to work will, according to policy director Brian Johnson, “Finally give the workers a choice to say ‘no’ to forced unionism.”
Right to work laws guarantee two very important freedoms: “Right to work laws are essential to protecting freedom of association, as well as the common-law principle of private property ownership,” Johnson says.
Such initiatives ensure that no Coloradoan be forced to join or support a union as a condition of employment. All workers in Colorado would have the freedom to join a union and the also the freedom not to join or be required to pay fees to a union in order to get or keep a job. These freedoms have hitherto been nonexistent in Colorado.
“Most workers know that they don’t need a union to own their own home, own their own health care, own their own retirement, or own their own small business,” said Johnson. “Unions no longer always represent the best interests of their workers; they represent the best interest of union bosses, who are too often aligned with the pro-regulation, high-tax left wing.”
Currently, private sector union membership is at an all time historic low hovering around seven percent. This, according to groups like the Alliance for Worker Freedom, is further evidence that the vast American workforce is rejecting union membership if given the choice.
“Workers should be free to refrain from becoming part of a self-interested leviathan, without being coerced by working in a state that does not have right to work laws. Colorado’s forced union dues, as a condition of employment, directly interfere with open and free market labor models and are counterproductive to sustain economic growth,” adds Johnson.
The Alliance for Worker freedom will continue to monitor the situation in Colorado and push for right to work laws.
