The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1958-09-04
LETTERS s
TO THE EDITOR

Sept. /, 1858
Editor, The Bluffton News:
The referendum on a So-called
Right-to-Work law in Ohio is
coming into the news more and
more these days. There is a bit
of propaganda in the name
"Right-to-Work" which infers the
workers do not now have the
right to work, which. of course,
is a half truth because where
there is an open shop contract
workers must keep UP their dues
payments to keep their job
they now have a right to work.
However, they do not now have
the right to work if they do not
keep up their payments. Never
theleSs, the endless stream of
baSeless propaganda poured out
of the unions against a Right-to-
Work law makes the other sides
propaganda seem pretty tame.
Lawyers have an old saying that
if an attorney has a good case,
he sticks to the evidence. If he
has a poor case, he sticks to the
law. If he has no case at all he
just screams at his opponent.
The principle involved is a COM
mon human trait. Thus when you
hear the unions hysterica1
prophesieS about what a Right-to
Work law would do to the workers
and unions, you can safely con-
Guide they are lust screaming"
because they have no case. Most
of us can remember when Taft
Hartley was passed by congress
about 10 years ago which, among
other things, out-lawed Tie closed
shop (where workers must pay
union dues before they can get
job. At that time the unions
screamed Slave Labor Law" at
Taft-Hartley and predicted the
most dire results for the workers
and unions if it were passed.
Nevertheless, since Taft-Hartley
became law the national wage
rate in manufacturing has nearly
doubled, pension plans created,
fringe benefits multiplied several
times over, and the unions have
become the most powerful single
political force in the nation.
There are one or two important
principles involved on each side
of this controversy. On the
unions side the fear of the labor
bosses that they would lose some
of their present, almost absolute
power over their own members
is well founded. 1t would GER
tainly make it more difficult for
them to ignore the desires of
their rank and file members be-
cause they could retaliate by
Withdrawing from the union,
which they cannot now do with
out losing their pob.
Many union members object to
a Right-to-WoIx law because they
figure that workers who for one
reason or another refuse to pay
their dues would in effect be
free riders" because they bene-
fitted from the union without
making a contribution. There is
some truth in this contention but
it is part of the price of liberty.
The proponents of this measure
rightly maintain that it is un-
democratic and un-American to
force a man to join a voluntary
association Qabor union) against
his will in order 10 have the right
to work. 1t is also their hope that
il will become a breech in the
power of the labor bosses and
thus make ii possible for the rank
and file of union members who
are preponderantly honest and
respectable, to clean out the
hoodlum and gangster elements
from the ranks Of the labor
bosses. Since the political bosses
of both parties are afraid of the
power of the labor bosses il
it seems vain to hope for any
relief from that quarter.
In brief, what this letter wishes
to point out is that non-union
members, whether they are
farmers, teachers, merchants, as
well as union members them
selves should remember that
the more violen and Incorporate
the unions propaganda in this
matter is the closer the unions
come to what lawyers call
screaming at their opponents
when they have no case.
Waldo Steiner