Stop the corporate “right to work” race to the bottom

Petition to Congress:  "Stop the corporate race to the bottom that pits states against each other to lower wages and weaken workers’ rights by supporting the Protecting Workers and Improving Labor Standards Act to ban states from enacting so-called 'right to work' laws." Add your name:

Donald Trump loves to rant about low pay and promise that he alone can change things – but the phony populist has  embraced so-called “right to work” laws that depress wages.1. So-called “right to work” laws are designed to give more power to corporate bosses by allowing some people to take advantage of union bargaining without supporting the union. The weaker unions are, the lower wages are for everyone – one study found that wages for all workers were 16 percent lower in so-called “right to work” states.2 The race to the bottom affects all of us, even in states that support working people. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Brad Sherman are leading a handful of other Democrats to fight back,3 and we need to get behind their new bill – the Protecting Workers and Improving Labor Standards Act – to institute a federal ban on these so-called “right to work” laws. Tell Congress: Stand with Sen. Warren: Stop the corporate “right to work” race to the bottom. Support the Protecting Workers and Improving Labor Standards Act. Massive international corporations play one state off against another, seeking ever-more extreme anti-union laws. Instead of competing to make sure everyone can find a good-paying job to support a family, state governments rush to bow down before mega corporations and beg for their favor. It’s a race to the bottom, and only one national standard will put an end to it.4 The so-called “right to work” laws reward people who want the good pay and strong benefits that come from having a union without paying the dues that make the union possible. All of us tend to pick to save money now rather than invest in the future. But corporate executives count on people making the wrong choice and thus hollowing out unions and leaving no one to resist. Trade deals like North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hurt workers, but Trump wants us to put all the blame on foreigners and ignore the Wall Street puppet masters here at home. As Sen. Warren puts it: "The country is in the middle of renegotiating NAFTA, which was a bad deal for American workers. If we want to protect workers and expect a level playing field in international trade deals, we need to start at home – and that means banning states from imposing restrictions that prevent workers from joining together to fight for their future."5 Tell Congress: Stand with Sen. Warren: Stop the corporate “right to work” race to the bottom. Support the Protecting Workers and Improving Labor Standards Act. If people can quit a bad job to get more pay and better benefits at a union worksite, companies face pressure to raise wages for everyone. Corporations know this, and target unions directly – hurting every single person who works for a living, hourly or salaried, union or non-union, in so-called “right to work” states or states that value working people.6 Warren and Sherman’s simple bill takes the pressure off state governments and individual workers by removing this weapon from the corporate arsenal. Ending so-called “right to work” laws mean higher wages and better benefits for everyone. Stand with Congress: Stand with Sen. Warren: Stop the corporate “right to work” race to the bottom. Support the Protecting Workers and Improving Labor Standards Act. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/warren_right_to_work?t=8&akid=25639%2E3130208%2EfMxG4Z - Murshed Zaheed, Political Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Dave Jamieson, “Republicans Want To Pass A National Right-To-Work Law,” HuffPost, Feb. 1, 2017. Eric McAdams, “Elizabeth Warren Introduces Bill to Ban So-Called ‘Right-to-Work’ Laws,” Paste Magazine, Sept. 20, 2017. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, “Sens. Warren, Brown, Gillibrand, Rep. Sherman Introduce Legislation to Protect Workers Ahead of Upcoming NAFTA Renegotiations,” Sept. 20, 2017. Ibid. Ibid. Eric Levitz, “Senate Democrats: Canadian Unions Shouldn’t Have to Compete With Cheap American Labor,” New York Magazine, Sept. 20, 2017.