From Ohio House Press Conference Introducing Workplace Freedom legislation, left to right: John Becker, Kristina Roegner, Ron Maag, John Adams and Andrew Brenner

Ohio Representatives Ron Maag and Kristina Roegner are gathering support for Workplace Freedom legislation that would free both private sector and government workers from the chains of forced union dues. Their proposed legislation will give all workers in Ohio the freedom of choice in whether they pay union dues or fees just to have a job.

We are supportive of this legislation, welcome public debate on the issue and thank Representatives Maag and Roegner for their leadership on the most important economic issue facing Ohio today.

With that said – given John Kasich’s opposition to this issue, it’s an uphill battle for Workplace Freedom to become the law of the land in Ohio via the legislative path. This sentiment became clear on Wednesday when the Ohio Senate said they would not be moving the legislation forward at this time.

Even if this issue does not make it through the legislature, we hope it raises the profile of this vital issue for Ohio that both Indiana and Michigan made law in 2012.

Workplace Freedom is vital to Ohio’s future.

Please continue supporting our efforts to put Workplace Freedom directly before voters at the ballot by donating to our cause or signing up to gather signatures.

If you would like to learn more about Workplace Freedom in Ohio, click here for more information, or below you can read the recent Columbus Dispatch editorial by the attorney who drafted the Ohio Workplace Freedom Amendment, Maurice Thompson from the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law.

April 22, 2013 Editorial: Should Ohio voters support a right-to-work ballot issue? Yes – Forced support of unions is drag on economy

With the new additions of Michigan and Indiana, 24 states now protect their residents from having to pay forced union dues or fees to keep their jobs. Ohio should become the 25th.

Under current law, those in unionized workplaces must either join the union and pay union dues, or pay to the union a “fair share fee,” the amount of which is substantially the same as union dues.

One simple question that union leaders cannot answer: If your representation of workers is truly valuable, why do you need a law forcing Ohioans to buy it?

Fighting to maintain such a law amounts to an admission that what you have to offer simply isn’t that valuable to everyone. And the evidence demonstrates that this is correct: When workers are free to choose, far fewer choose what unions have to offer. In 2011, many of Wisconsin’s workers became free to choose whether to pay a union. Since then, according to recent U.S. Labor Department filings, one-third of those who were previously forced to pay a union at their workplace have chosen to break ties.

Unions, of course, should be free to demonstrate their value and garner support. But at the end of the day, unions are private entities, and their support must be voluntarily earned.

Equally important, forced unionization deprives Ohio workers of meaningful economic opportunities.

Ohio University economist Richard Vedder estimates that Ohioans’ household income would be $12,000 higher today had Ohio adopted a right-to-work law in 1977. Over the past 20 years alone, incomes of residents in right-to-work states grew 142 percent more than incomes of Ohioans.

Meanwhile, since 1990, job growth in right-to-work states is almost six times higher than in Ohio. And in the past five years, nearly 75 percent of jobs created in our nation have been in these states, even though 65 million fewer people live in them, compared to forced union states.

In short, because freedom to choose increases workplace flexibility, and it attracts employers, creates more jobs and raises wages.

A healthier economy would allow more young workers to pursue their careers in Ohio. Who among us doesn’t know Ohio parents whose children have left the state in search of meaningful work?

Union leaders seem satisfied to proclaim that “right to work” is “right to work for less.” One problem with this bumper-sticker slogan: It’s untrue.

They claimed the same in Oklahoma and Idaho when each embraced workplace freedom. Each time, they were mistaken. And while wages are indeed lower in some Southern right-to-work states, this is only because those economies were once light-years behind Ohio (wages in Northern union states were 78 percent higher in 1960). This gap is quickly closing.

Want Ohioans’ wages to eventually be lower than those in Southern states? Here’s the roadmap: retain forced unionization, and thereby continue to put local employers out of business and dissuade new businesses from investing in Ohio.

Unions also frequently argue that workplace freedom creates “free-riders,” receiving the “ benefits” of union-negotiated agreements without incurring the costs of funding those negotiations. However, unions are not required to represent all employees in a workplace unless they insist — through their lobbying, workplace electioneering and bargaining agreements — on maintaining “ exclusive representation.”

Unions create this “free-rider” problem, by insisting on attempting to represent everyone, the willing and the unwilling. You can’t make this power grab while simultaneously attacking its consequences.

It’s time to set Ohioans free from forced union dues. Unions have nothing to fear, so long as they offer Ohio workers a service worth voluntarily purchasing.

My organization protects the constitutional rights of all Ohioans. But we don’t then advocate for a law forcing all Ohioans to donate to us.

Unions, we challenge you to do the same.

After all, it was the founder of what is now the AFL-CIO, Samuel Gompers, who affirmed, “ Americans must have the right, but not be compelled, to join labor unions.”

It’s time to transform this principle, freedom of choice, into policy for all Ohioans.

Indiana, Michigan and now….Missouri?

St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that “Right-to-work legislation has been proposed for several years in Missouri without gaining much traction. But last year, Indiana and Michigan both passed right-to-work laws, giving the effort a potential boost here.”

Even more interesting is that despite a Democrat governor’s opposition to the issue, Missouri’s Republican controlled House and Senate are considering putting the issue directly to the ballot for voters to decide. This is exactly how Oklahoma became a Workplace Freedom State in 2001.

With Missouri appearing to move toward Workplace Freedom and Pennsylvania having the same debate in their statehouse, the question is – what will Ohio do on this issue?

We advocate for two paths to Workplace Freedom in Ohio:

• First, our current path. By citizen’s initiative, gather enough signatures to place this issue directly before the voters and let them decide. You can support this effort by donating or signing up to gather signatures.
• Second, our state legislature (like Missouri) could place this issue directly to the ballot and let voters decide.

In either instance, we support a direct to ballot path for this issue since unions will referendum any traditional legislation, meaning – the real vote occurs at the ballot box through any path. We might as well begin with this in mind.

If you would like your elected officials to place this before voters, please urge them to do so.

In the meantime, we hope you’ll continue your support for Workplace Freedom in Ohio by donating to our efforts or signing up to gather signatures to place the issue before Ohio voters.

From Mark Kovac article just a few days ago:

“At least one statewide officeholder has taken a public position on efforts to prohibit mandatory union membership and dues.

Republican Treasurer Josh Mandel said Jan. 31 that he supports right-to-work issues and would be willing to campaign as a proponent, should a constitutional amendment qualify for the November ballot.

‘I’m concerned that, with Michigan and Indiana passing [right-to-work] laws that up and down the Michigan border they’re going to be poaching Ohio businesses,’ Mandel said. ‘I think small businesses who are looking to grow will want to operate in a free market type of environment.’ ”

It’s clear Josh Mandel understands this issue transcends politics and political parties, and has everything to do with personal freedom for those who deserve freedom of choice from forced union dues and economic freedom for all Ohioans.

We thank Josh Mandel for his support of Workplace Freedom in Ohio and encourage Ohio’s other political leaders – regardless of political party, race or gender to support the universal defense of individual rights called Workplace Freedom.

Please support the Ohio Workplace Freedom Amendment by donating or gathering signatures to place the issue before voters.

From the Washington Free Beacon: Tuesday, January 22, Six Republican lawmakers introduced a proposal to make Pennsylvania, the “Keystone State,” the nation’s 25th right-to-work state.

Article added: “The needs of our economy dictate that it must be adopted at some point in time,” said state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe. “The victory of right-to-work in Michigan and Indiana certainly thrust the spotlight on it and made the General Assembly look it more seriously than the past.”

Indiana and Michigan have done the right thing. Pennsylvania has engaged in the discussion. Missouri and other states are pushing as well.

Ohio cannot be left behind.

Through citizen’s initiative, we can place the issue of Workplace Freedom before Ohio voters, and let the people decide.

Please support the Ohio Workplace Freedom Amendment by donating or gathering signatures to place the issue before voters.

First Indiana earlier this year, now Michigan will be embracing workplace freedom – AKA “right to work.”

Michigan’s Governor just announced his support for a proposal working its way through the Michigan legislature to end the practice of forced union dues in Michigan.

See the Governor’s video message here.

Ohioans for Workplace Freedom believes the time has come for Ohio to become a workplace freedom state as well.

Apart from the simple morality that every worker should be free to choose whether they pay dues to a union or not just to have a job, recent reports from Media Trackers in Ohio confirm what Workplace Freedom has meant to other states with regards to job creation and rising wages.

Two must read articles here:

Ohio’s Abysmal Job Growth Compared to Workplace Freedom States

Compared to Ohio, Wage Trends Favor Workplace Freedom States

We can’t let Ohio fall behind. We must create freedom of choice in the workplace, and by doing this provide Ohio businesses with more flexibility in the workplace which means more profitable companies, more job growth, increasing wages and more investment in Ohio.

Now is the time.

Please support our efforts to bring this issue before voters in 2013 by giving today.

Every Ohioan should have freedom of choice on this issue. Let the people decide!

Not news to anyone at this point, Hostess Foods announced plans to liquidate, and barring a small miracle – that’s precisely what will happen. Over 18,000 people will lose their jobs across multiple states because unions brought another company to the point of closure, and workers lost everything.

It’s likely their more profitable brands could be picked up, but the company doesn’t have much to show in assets, so bankruptcy may be very painful.

Why did all of this happen? It wasn’t overnight, and many saw it coming (like WSJ) and reported on the problems long ago.

The problem revolves around forced unionization, and what it does to a company over time.

First, let’s be very clear – if a place of work is unionized, and the place of business is in a forced union state (like Ohio), the union is inclined to act in their own interest as the workers have no choice in whether they pay union dues or not. With the union as the sole negotiator in a workplace dispute, the workers who would choose otherwise are hindered from doing anything outside of the union.

With this in mind – earlier in the year, Hostess said in its bankruptcy filing that its cost structure

“left it poorly positioned to respond to a worsening economy, increased competition and consolidation in the industry that has given other bakery companies major economies of scale and workforce advantages.”

If you dig into the details behind this summary, one thing becomes very clear – they had absolutely no capital to modernize operations and improve workplace efficiencies, therefore they could not adjust to competition in the market. Of course this asks another question, where were the millions of dollars going if the company had clearly identified what needed to be changed in their business model to become profitable again?

From Courthouse News, “Eight of the company’s top 10 creditors in the bankruptcy filing are pension funds. The top unsecured creditor is Bakery & Confectionary Union & Industry International Pension Fund; it is owed more than $944 million.”

Remember – this is one of the primary causes of American car companies’ problems as well. In both instances, the primary unions pushed so hard to preserve unsustainable pension programs that the respecitve companies finally broke.

Side note – this is the same thing happening with government employee compensation and pension programs right now in Ohio at the state and municipal levels. Compensation packages are the primary dirvers of all costs – especially in municipalities (as high as 85% of total budget in some school districts). Note all the levies which are repeatedly being put to the ballot. This is driving up the local tax rates in Ohio to some of the highest in the US.

Back to Hostess. With unsustainable financial obligations which unions refused to address, where was operating money going past the increasing debt on pension obligations? Well, read what Hostess said on this matter in their bankruptcy. They cited

“a number of significant financial commitments and arcane work rules imposed by collective bargaining agreements.”

They said they were going through a “cash burn” of $2 million per week, and that their competitive disadvantage was due almost exclusively to union contract obligations, which have “never been meaningfully addressed.”

So, we have two primary culprits for the downfall of Hostess (both union driven) –

1. Short and long term capital problems brought about by unsustainable obligations
2. Work rules and mandates that were never addressed

And how do these things go together?

As we pointed out in the last article on Hostess, union contracts stipulated that Wonderbread and Twinkies going to the SAME STORE must be delivered in DIFFERENT trucks driven by DIFFERENT drivers and unloaded by the APPROPRIATE driver.

Another union contract required that the bread products and the cake products be loaded by separate designated loaders and unloaded at warehouses by different designated un-loaders.

Hostess was paying 2 and sometimes even 3 people for the work that one person could have done. These workplace obligations were set in place by union contracts.

I’m sure by now its clear where this is going.

It’s one thing to have a deficit in a pension fund. That may be fixable if standards for the fund are changed (something the union did not want). It’s also fixable after the standards have been changed, and the company can adjust the workplace to become more efficient and profitable to meet the obligations.

But, when you couple an unsustainable pension program with no ability make changes to the efficiency problem in the workplace (paying multiple people for the same job) and then realize there is no money from operations that can be reinvested into the company to automate, update or improve efficiency in any other way….well, you see the death spiral that is created.

The unions created a cycle driven by unsustainability and inflexibility. Once this cycle starts sucking away the profit, the company enters a death spiral from which it can never return.

This is the story of manufacturing in Ohio and most of the rust belt. This is why workplace freedom states are creating jobs almost 3 times faster than forced union states, are seeing rising wages as well.

It’s the reason why CEOs and venture capital firms don’t want to invest in Ohio. Why would you take the risk of starting this death cycle in a forced union state when you can avoid the risk entirely in a workplace freedom state?

Unless Ohio changes, making this state more friendly to investment and more sustainable with regards to local and state government, why would anyone want to invest into our state? Simple truth – they aren’t, and they won’t.

We must end the death cycle that is killing workers, companies and communities. We must end forced union dues. Freedom of choice in the workplace fixes this problem. Let’s make Ohio a workplace freedom state and give our economy the boost it needs for the future.

Support the efforts to end forced union dues in Ohio by giving to Ohioans for Workplace Freedom here.

It was reported on Nov 12^th that Hostess Foods is closing its facility in Cincinnati, along with two other location in St. Louis and Seattle. More Ohio jobs have now been lost to forced unionization. A Workplace Freedom Amendment would fix this problem. Full story below.

Please support the Ohio Workplace Freedom Amendment Efforts Here

Hostess has been on the edge of bankruptcy for the last few years because unions refuse to negotiate contracts which would allow the company to stay in business.

The unions have killed productivity in the workplace, forcing the company to shut down multiple operations and move closer to bankruptcy, and here’s how.

The Teamsters contract stipulates that Wonderbread and Twinkies going to the SAME STORE must be delivered in DIFFERENT trucks driven by DIFFERENT drivers and unloaded by the APPROPRIATE driver.

The Baker’s union contract required that the bread products and the cake products be loaded by separate designated loaders and unloaded at warehouses by different designated un-loaders.

Hostess is now dealing with an artificially less productive and less flexible work environment. This means they have more workers than they need to operate productively, and therefore profitably. With the artificially higher cost of goods sold as a combination of increased overhead and inflexibility, their only option is to increase the price of their product, making them less competitive in the market place, which kills revenue and eventually profit.

No profit means no more Hostess. When Hostess closes, everyone loses – workers, business owners, contractors, communities and even citizens in their community and state. What a horrible story.

This is a tragedy for Ohio and Hostess, but remember this is happening on a nationwide scale. Forced union states are killing the companies and entrepreneurs who create the jobs. They are killing jobs for the very workers they claim to represent. How long can this last?

Click Here to Help Us Save Ohio with a Workplace Freedom Amendment

Articles for reference:

Nov 12 – Channel 19, Cincinnati: Hostess Closing Its Bakery in Cincinnati

Nov 12 – ABC World News: Twilight for Twinkies? Hostess Workers Strike as Company Struggles

Chicago teacher’s strike embraces “International Socialist Organization.” Also at strike, teachers partying and celebrating, saying of the strike “This is the best I have felt in my entire career of teaching.”

There isn’t much more of description that is needed. This behavior is disturbing on every imaginable level. It’s heart wrenching, and we should all fear for the future of education with this kind of rhetoric.

We know that many teachers in Chicago’s public schools do not feel this way, or embrace socialist and abusive rhetoric of any kind. But, they are still forced to pay dues and fees to an organization who obviously doesn’t represent their worldview or desires.

This same problem exists in Ohio with teachers across the state funding activities like this against their will. There is only hope is an Ohio Workplace Freedom Amendment to give them choice in whether they pay those dues and fees or not. Free Ohio’s workers. It’s our only choice. Support the Ohio Workplace Freedom Amendment today.

This video of the teachers strike in Chicago will shock you.

If we want to end this horrible system – we must embrace workplace freedom in Ohio, and in all states. Give workers their freedom choice and those good teachers will leave this terrible system immediately.

Our goal is to secure workplace freedom for all Ohioans by amending Ohio’s Constitution to guarantee the freedom of Ohioans to choose whether to participate in a labor organization as a condition of employment. Donate Here

Sign Up to Gather Signatures – We’d like to place the Ohio Workplace Freedom Amendment before voters. But, in order to give Ohioans a vote on this issue, we must gather over 500K signatures across Ohio.

If you can help gather signatures for this effort, please sign up here.

by Matt Mayer, originally published in the March 1, 2012 issue of the Columbus Dispatch

In today’s globally competitive marketplace and with all of the legal protections afforded workers, forcing workers to join a union to get a job is radical and undermines Ohio’s competitiveness. Ohioans should be free to choose whether to join a union to get a job. It is a core, mainstream American right, after all.

The fact is, Ohio’s unions were utterly powerless against the shifting sands of global competition and technological progress. As Europe and Japan fully recovered from the devastation of World War II and developing nations reaped the benefits of open-trade policies, America’s near monopoly in production ended, as did the monopoly that allowed unions to drive up labor costs to inflated levels. As a result of worldwide competition, the United Auto Workers union now accepts a two-tiered pay system in which new members make substantially less than old members for doing the same work.

It isn’t just inflated compensation costs that are problematic. Unions also bring work-rule inefficiencies that pose undue burdens. Hostess, the maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, is drowning under the union inflexibility that requires two separate trucks and two separate union members to unpack the two products traveling to the same store.

Because of the unions’ efforts in the early half of the 1900s, all American workers today are covered by hundreds of laws that protect them from arbitrary, capricious and illegal conduct by their employers. Unions simply aren’t necessary anymore.

Economically, Ohio isn’t faring very well with unions. In 1930, Ohio’s per capita income was the 12th highest. Today, it is the 33rd highest. In just the past decade, as Ohioans experienced a per-capita increase in personal income of 26 percent, workers in worker-freedom states saw a 38 percent increase.

From 1990 to 2012, worker-freedom states averaged 36 percent net job growth compared to 12 percent in forced-unionization states. Except for Nevada, the 11 states with the highest net job growth also have a unionization rate of 10 percent or lower. The 15 states with the weakest job growth are all forced-unionization states, with all but two having unionization rates above 13 percent. In what may be the most jaw-dropping figure, despite possessing 65 million fewer people, worker-freedom states netted 11,275,400 jobs, compared with forced-unionization states that added only 7,182,900 jobs.

Over the past 10 years, the percentage change in private-sector gross domestic product in worker-freedom states averaged 25 percent, as forced-unionization states came in 8 percent lower (it was 10 percent lower in manufacturing). Ohio had the 50th worst. Sixty-five percent of the top 20 states were worker-freedom states, while 75 percent of the 20 worst states were forced-unionization states.

Yes, northern unionized states still possess a slightly higher per-capita personal income (11.5 percent), but the difference is down from 78.3 percent in 1960.

Did you ever wonder why there is not a single state that protects worker freedoms that is considering a return to forced unionization? To the contrary, activities are under way across the forced-unionization states to free workers from this yoke.

Indiana recently adopted worker-freedom legislation because Gov. Mitch Daniels, not known as a radical, acknowledged that protecting worker freedom increases a state’s competitiveness and stems the loss of companies and jobs that flee to more friendly environments. Ohio workers and companies deserve the same freedom and ability to compete.

So what is really the radical position today? Forcing Ohioans to join unions or allowing them to choose? Historically, freedom always beats force.

Matt Mayer is the former president of the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions.

“Workplace Freedom” guarantees that Ohioans have a choice in whether or not they join a labor union and pay dues or fees at their place of work as a condition of employment.

Workplace freedom is about choice – the choice to join a union, and the choice to not join a union. Workplace freedom guarantees that decision is left to each individual’s personal preference, and insures that no one is forced to join a union against their will or pay union dues or fees just to have a job.

Unfortunately, Ohio is currently a “forced union” state. That means – if a workplace is unionized, in order to have a specific job at that place of business, you can be forced to pay union dues or fees just to have a job.

Workplace Freedom does NOT end unions or forbid any union contract provisions other than forced dues or fees. It does NOT inhibit collective bargaining in any way. It does NOT prevent unions from forming, and it does NOT prevent anyone from joining a union.

Takes one minute to read the amendment and verify this information.

Professor Richard Vedder, an economics professor from Ohio University, recently provided some historical context for the discussion. In 1935, the Wagner Act passed the US Congress and permitted unions to require workers to be a member of the relevant union as a prerequisite for employment.

“The Wagner Act essentially granted monopoly power to unions, allowing them to coerce workers to join, or at least contribute financially, to support union activities. This represented a dramatic break from the American tradition of individual liberty.”

Then in 1947, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act allowing individual states to override those forced union provisions with workplace freedom laws. As of today, 23 states enjoy freedom of choice in the workplace, most recently Indiana in winter of 2012.

So, why should Ohio voters make Ohio the 24th workplace freedom state?

Apart from the obvious moral position that everyone should have a choice in whether or not they join a union or pay dues just to have a particular job – workplace freedom brings prosperity.

Through Republican and Democrat administrations alike, Ohio has lost far too many jobs. Ohio is hurting, and something must change. There are fewer jobs today in Ohio than there were in January 1990 in five out of ten industry sectors: Mining & Logging; Construction; Manufacturing; Trade, Transportation & Utility; and Information. In four other sectors, there are fewer jobs today than in January 2000: Financial Activities; Professional & Business Services; Leisure & Hospitality; and Other Services.

Now compare workplace freedom states to forced union states. The average net job growth in forced union states from 1990 to today is a paltry 12%. The average net job growth in workplace freedom states is 36% – THREE TIMES AS MUCH!!

Despite possessing 65 million fewer people, workplace freedom states netted over 4 million more jobs than forced union states. The fifteen states with the weakest job growth, of which Ohio is one, are all forced unionization states.

Not only do workplace freedom states create more jobs, but the growth of real personal income in those states also greatly exceeds the rate in forced unionization states. Those who oppose workplace freedom leave out critical components of real income, such as cost of living, meaning a simple wage is not the only factor to evaluate. Example: $17/hr in Ohio is not the same as $17/hr in New York or California because cost of living is much higher in those states. $35K a year doesn’t go near as far in New York or California when you’re trying to buy a home and pay the bills, so its impossible to compare state vs.state wages without considering cost of living in each respective state.

Their stats also do not account for the fact that wages in Northern and early industrialized states rose well before unions had any influence at all. The South and West remained a largely agricultural economy for many years while other parts of the country industrialized, so it’s quite important in looking at these stats that we compare apples to apples.

The simple truth – from 1977 to 2008 (the end of the US economic “boom”), the growth in real per capita income in workplace freedom states was 62.3% compared to just 35.7% in Ohio – making Ohio almost 27% worse than workplace freedom states. Bottom line – income growth in workplace freedom states is much better than forced union states.

If Ohioans want personal freedom to make their own decisions and economic prosperity – meaning a healthy job market with rising per capita income – we must make Ohio a workplace freedom state.