Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding legislative provisions in the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and American Jobs Act to void the State right-to-work laws that protect workers from being required to join and pay forced dues to a union to get or keep a job.
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
This resolution opposes the enactment of any federal law that voids state laws that prohibit employers from requiring workers to join a union as a condition of employment.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 620 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 620

    Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding 
legislative provisions in the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and 
  American Jobs Act to void the State right-to-work laws that protect 
 workers from being required to join and pay forced dues to a union to 
                           get or keep a job.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 3, 2021

Mr. Bishop of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Perry, Mr. Austin Scott 
    of Georgia, Mr. Wittman, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Graves of 
Louisiana, Mr. McHenry, Mr. Good of Virginia, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Timmons, 
 Mr. Joyce of Pennsylvania, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Issa, Mr. Budd, Mr. Allen, 
Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Weber 
  of Texas, Mrs. Bice of Oklahoma, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Cole, 
Mrs. Lesko, Mr. Norman, Ms. Letlow, Mrs. Greene of Georgia, Mr. Biggs, 
 Mr. Mann, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Carl, Ms. Herrell, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Guest, 
Mr. Baird, Mr. Banks, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Steube, Mr. Guthrie, and Mr. 
  Roy) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding 
legislative provisions in the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and 
  American Jobs Act to void the State right-to-work laws that protect 
 workers from being required to join and pay forced dues to a union to 
                           get or keep a job.

Whereas given State right-to-work (RTW) laws in 27 States, specifically Alabama, 
        Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, 
        Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North 
        Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, 
        Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, 
        are essential to safeguarding the political freedom of workers and 
        growing those States economies;
Whereas RTW laws attract business expansion and incentivize economic investment;
Whereas a report by NERA 360 consulting for the Chamber of Commerce in May 2018 
        found that--

    (1) private sector employment grew by 27 percent in RTW States between 
2001 and 2016, compared to 15 percent in non-RTW States;

    (2) on average, the annual unemployment rate in RTW States was 0.4 
percentage points lower than in non-RTW States, which means that if non-RTW 
States had had the same unemployment rate as RTW States in 2017, 
approximately 249,000 more people would have been employed;

    (3) output has also grown faster in RTW States, rising by 38 percent 
between 2001 and 2016, compared to 29 percent in non-RTW States;

    (4) four of the top five States with the largest growth in real per 
capita output over this period are RTW States;

    (5) real manufacturing output rose by over 30 percent in RTW States 
between 2001 and 2016 compared with 21 percent in non-RTW States;

    (6) personal income in RTW States rose 39 percent in RTW States between 
2001 and 2016, 33 percent more than in non-RTW States, which rose just 26 
percent; and

    (7) as of 2017, about four percent of private sector workers in RTW 
States belonged to unions, compared with about nine percent in non-RTW 
States;

Whereas a study by the National Institute for Labor Relations Research 
        demonstrates that RTW laws have significant beneficial effects on a 
        State's standard of living, enjoy greater economic vitality than do 
        States where union dues and ``fees'' are compulsory, enjoyed a higher 
        growth in per capita income for decades, and have faster growth in 
        manufacturing and nonagricultural jobs and capital expenditures, lower 
        unemployment rates, and fewer work stoppages;
Whereas congressional enactment of the Taft Hartley amendments of 1947 to the 
        National Labor Relations Act established unequivocally that States have 
        the power to enact RTW laws;
Whereas these Taft Hartley State RTW provisions have been in force and the law 
        of the land for 75 years;
Whereas during this time, more than half the States, 27 in all, have chosen to 
        enact RTW laws, demonstrating broad public support for such laws;
Whereas the fact that nearly a fifth of all State RTW laws--Indiana's, 
        Michigan's, Wisconsin's, West Virginia's, and Kentucky's--were adopted 
        since the beginning of 2012 demonstrates that public support for RTW 
        laws continues to strengthen;
Whereas any action by Congress to compel membership in or payment of dues to 
        unions by overriding State RTW laws would constitute violations of the 
        1st, 9th, 10th, and 14th Amendments to the Constitution;
Whereas RTW laws protect workers by letting them choose where their money goes 
        and by requiring unions to earn the support and trust of their 
        employees;
Whereas the PRO Act and provisions in the American Jobs Act undermine, encroach 
        upon, weaken, and supersede State RTW laws that protect workers' 
        constitutional rights and grow our Nation's economy; and
Whereas forced unionization violates the basic freedom of individuals, forces 
        individuals to subsidize political activities they disagree with, and 
        does little more than line the pockets of union bosses and their 
        political enablers: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives should not void State 
right-to-work laws by enacting the Protecting the Right to Organize 
Act, provisions in the American Jobs Act, or any other measure.
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