Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking before a Machinists’ union conference in Las Vegas, vowed to eliminate Right-to-Work laws if elected President.
LAS VEGAS, NV—Democrat-Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders [I-VT] was in Las Vegas on Monday speaking to the International Association of Machinists at a union conference.
During his speech, Sanders stated that, if he were elected president, he would push legislation in Congress to prohibit the Right-to-Work laws.
“We need elected officials and candidates at every level to get serious about speaking out for the trade union movement. This should not be an afterthought,” Sanders said, according to the Hill. “If we’re talking about growing wages, providing health care to all people, having a progressive tax system, the trade union movement must be in the middle of all of those discussions.”
Sanders, who is currently in second place for the Democratic Party’s nomination (behind Joe Biden), has long been a proponent of ending states’ ability to enact Right-to-Work laws which forbid employers and unions negotiating contracts that make payments to unions mandatory.
Last year, as well as years prior, Sanders introduced the misleadingly-named Workplace Democracy Act, which (among other things) would strip states of their right to enact or keep Right-to-Work laws.
.@BernieSanders explains the Workplace Democracy Act, which he has been introducing since *1992* at @MachinistsUnion #IAMtranspo19
Other candidates, take notice. Don't demand union members' votes without a strong labor law reform agenda. pic.twitter.com/hXUJlwKXtr
— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) April 8, 2019
If Sanders were to get elected and the Workplace Democracy Act were to become law, unionized workers in all 50 states could be required to pay union fees. Were they to fail to pay union fees, they could be fired from their jobs.
Currently, there are 27 Right-to-Work states that forbid workers from being fired for not paying union fees.
Read: The Workplace Democracy Act In A Nutshell
