In a Wall Street Journal article over the weekend, Senator Tim Scott (R – South Carolina) discusses the introduction of his new bill, the Employee Rights Act of 2022, which would “protect workers from overbearing union bosses and small business owners from unelected bureaucrats in Washington.”
“It’s time to put workers back in the driver’s seat” notes Senator Scott.
He’s right.
The “overbearing” union bosses to whom Senator Scott refers have taken advantage of their members for far too long. In Southern California, for example, the executives of the seven United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) locals have collected up to $1,968 in dues from members since March 2020. That meant in 2020 alone, more than $71.5 million was taken out of members’ paychecks.
Senator Scott proceeds to explain that President Biden’s proposed so-called “Protecting the Right to Organize Act” (PRO Act) would actually “put more power in the hands of union bosses,” not rank-and-file members.
More power is the last thing that union bosses need. On top of southern California UFCW local presidents’ exorbitant salaries, which average $207,000, those locals have spent millions on perks and benefits.
How union bosses have gotten away with that for so long is a mystery, until you understand, as Scott explains, “the codependent relationship between labor bosses and liberal elected officials requires a radical agenda that prioritizes their power at the expense of American workers.”
Union bosses and liberal politicians have put “power first and employees last,” which also includes their support for politicians whose inflation-inducing policies only hurt their members even more.
Senator Scott is right. It’s time we put the nation’s workers first and build an economy that “works for all Americans.” The place to start is holding self-serving union bosses accountable to their members.