A Win for Job Growth

A week ago I joined dozens of advocates for Right to Work and attended a county commission meeting in Sandoval County, where Right to Work was successfully passed in a 3-1 vote (with one abstaintion).

The ordinance is really quite fair and doesn’t impact current union contracts or workers until new businesses move in or there is renegotiation of a contract.

As an individual who values unions when they focus on representing workers, I see this first passage of Right to Work as a success for the state of New Mexico’s economy. It will potentially open up the economy to new jobs and create competition for unions that have become lazy, forcing them to actually do their job and represent workers. It sends the message that NEW MEXICO IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

I was very excited to participate in the passage of the ordinance, since I’ve been active on this policy for years.

Unions Should Focus on Helping Workers

I was raised in a union household and have no reason to hate what unions were designed to do– represent workers and advocate for them– but, they hardly do that anymore. For over 30 years, unions have been almost solely focused on electing pro-union politicians and they became the grassroots army of the progressive Left.

Maybe with the wake-up call sounding across the nation as Right-to-Work passes, and there’s no longer a monopoly, union bosses will see their power decreasing and will decide to do what they were intended to do.

Politically-Motivated Unions Hurt Us

Another annoying fact about unions is that they tend to be organized playground bullies. 

After attending the Right to Work commission meeting I had a tire blow-out on the five-hour drive home. Thankfully, I was driving through a small town at the time, at a low speed. But, I was surprised that the incident occurred when my tires were less than ten days old.

When I replaced my ten-day-old tire, I asked the tire department what they thought of the tire and they were suspicious, suggesting there could have been tampering. We inspected the tire after it was replaced and I found a screwdriver blade inside. The blade had apparently entered the tire through the sidewall in the inside part of my tire (opposed to street-side) and had sat there until it eventually drove in and the blow-out occurred. Unions should be above that kind of attack on others.

The unions shouldn’t have to bully and threaten their way into maintaining power. I could have been seriously hurt if my tire had blown out on the freeway (the majority of my drive). Or I could have been stranded with poor cell phone reception twenty miles from any town. Shame on them. If their goal is to scare me off, they will be disappointed!