SEIU, Service Employees International Union, is a labor union that is a major funder of progressive political candidates and organizations out of their due-collected revenue. They have been circulating a flyer to healthcare workers that is full of misinformation regarding Pennsylvania Governor candidate Doug Mastriano.
On their website, the SEIU claims that Doug Mastriano boasted that he would fight to make Pa a “right to work” state as though that were a bad thing.
Why is the SEIU so against a right-to-work switch for Pa? They’re a union. States that are right-to-work instead of at will, unions cannot force employees to join.
‘Right to work” refers to a state’s law with respect to membership in a union. In states that have adopted Right to Work laws, an employee may be included in a department that is unionized but has no obligation to actually join and pay dues to the union. Currently, 27 states have adopted Right to Work laws giving employees the right to choose whether or not to pay dues to the union representing them. There are some exceptions, such as for employees in the airline or railway industries and there may be some exceptions for federal contractors and certain public employers. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation shows the 27 states that currently have such laws and include links to each state’s law on their website. Although a covered employee may choose not to be a member of the union representing him/her, the union still has an obligation to represent him/her. If the union breaches that duty, the employee may file an unfair labor practice charge against the union.
In states that have not adopted right-to-work laws, the union may compel employees to join and pay dues or fees to the union within a specific time frame through security clauses that are included in the collective bargaining agreement between the union and employer.
Are you getting it yet?
What do you do when a political candidate wants to stop unions from forcing employees at a place of employment to join the union? You spread misinformation and scare people.
With Pennsylvania being an ‘at-will’ state, what is that? At-will is an employment relationship between an employer and employee in which the employer has the right to terminate the employee at any time with or without cause and for any reason.
Similarly, the employee is free to quit at any time without cause or for any reason.
The doctrine allows employers to increase or reduce wages, alter benefits, or otherwise change employee terms and conditions of at-will employment.
Collective bargaining agreements also typically trump an employer’s at-will employment rights.
And there we go. Who is able to do collective bargaining? Unions.
Now, right-to-work does not ban, bar, or eliminate unions. It simply means that unions cannot force all employees to join and pay dues.
The SEIU s a solid pillar of the radical Left—a labor union able to churn out millions of dollars and an army of volunteers to advance the progressive agenda.
