Right-to-Work Issue Alive in Congress

Whenever they gain control of the House, Republicans are attacked by Democrats who accuse them of forgetting issues they once championed.

Whether it is abolishing the Department of Education or killing the estate tax, certain former causes célèbre have had a tendency to fade when they fail to be enacted after a time.

Not so when it comes to right to work, which bans workers from joining unions as a requirement to work, and thus pay union dues as a condition for employment.

As of February 2023, 27 states have enacted right-to-work laws. On Monday, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., sought to give the issue a big leap forward by introducing the national right-to-work law—legislation which would, in effect, end the compulsory enrollment and automatic dues that are permitted in the remaining 23 states.

“South Carolina is a right-to-work state and it has a robust economy,” Wilson told Newsmax, pointing out that the Palmetto State has attracted major employers from overseas such as Michelin Tires, BMW, and Boeing. “By offering this legislation, we are giving rights back to workers.”

Standing with Wilson, National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix dubbed the measure “common sense legislation that doesn’t add a single word to federal law” and only “removes bias in federal law” that has existed since the pro-union Wagner Act became law in 1935. He further noted that, in an era of thousands of pages in major legislation, the right-to-work “is a one-page bill.”

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is offering a version of the national right-to-work bill in the Senate. Noting that lawmakers have offered the legislation several times in the past only to have it die in Congress, supporters insist there is new momentum for the bill because of the new business and prosperity in right-to-work states.

“And it will be a major issue in the ’24 campaign,” Mix added.

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.