Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I know usually spend a lot of time on the
show on national political issues that aren't really up for
a vote just yet. But sometimes something comes along that
I think is so important it's worth talking about just
to raise everybody's attention to it and hopefully it will
come up for a vote. And Bill Cassidy, who is
a Republican Senator from Louisiana, has been working on a
(00:22):
bunch of bills to update and modernize and add a
little more freedom to American labor laws. And I guess,
unsurprisingly one of his opponents is the worst Republican by
far in the US Senate, a guy named Josh Hawley,
who might as well be a Democrat on most issues.
But I care a lot about this stuff, but probably
(00:45):
not as much as Mark Mix does. Mark Mix is
president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation,
and he joins us for a few minutes just to
kind of help us understand this issue and where it
might be going. Hey, Mark, welcome back to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Hey Ross, good to be with you, and thanks for
that introduction.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
You nailed it.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I mean, this is kind of an update and a
freshening of labor policy that was written back in the
nineteen thirties, and I think most people would agree that
the workplace has changed and the so called balance of
labor versus capital has changed, and it's about time that
we had a debate about issues that have heretofore given
unique powers to union officials over workers. And of course
(01:24):
Donald Trump talked about supporting workers' rights and empowering workers
in this economy, and I think this labor policy package
that Kennedy Cassidy's introduced is really an important part of that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So just give us a brief thumbnail, because we only
got about four minutes here, So give us a brief
thumbnail of some of Cassidy's primary proposed reforms.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, first and foremost, let's have secret fout elections when
it comes to union certification. Let's protect the private data
of individual workers when unions are trying to organize people.
Let's protect workers that would maybe be involved in a
labor dispute and step down the violence and intimidation that
goes on picket lines. Let's make sure that workers have
an opportunity to basically raise concerns in the workplace, and
(02:11):
that they get the freedom from this monopoly exclusive bargaining
privileges that union officials have been given again since nineteen
thirty five. So that's the package eight bills that basically
say workers will have more rights in the American workplace.
And it's in contrast to Josh Howay's bill that would
allow the federal government to impose contracts on private businesses
(02:31):
for up to two years. So really interesting debate between
the two sides here.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So two quick follow ups. Then, the second thing you
mentioned in that list of Cassidy's bills was about protecting
private information. Does that mean limiting the ability of union
organizers to get things like cell phone numbers and home
addresses of workers so that they can go intimidate.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Them exactly, That's exactly what it means. And Ross, We've
had a couple of business where, you know, we found
out that the union officials, in gathering intelligence like this
on workers are trying to organize, have friends at the
DMV that run license plates and things like that, cell
phone numbers, work schedules, all that stuff is part of
that personal information that we think should be protected and
(03:16):
only given to union officials if someone wants to give.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
It to them. So, and I'll just say for the record,
if you know more often than not. If large labor
unions are in favor of something, then I'm against it
because I think they're generally bad for the economy. They're
anti freedom, They're basically like a tax on society. And
I'm not saying that that. You know, citizens should not
be allowed to organize, right, it's a free country. Although
(03:41):
I don't think government workers should be allowed to unionize.
Private citizens can. But that doesn't mean I have to
like the unions, especially the big ones. I don't really understand,
well I do. I mean, Josh Hawley is a socially
conservative Democrat who's out there living as a Republican, but
he probably shouldn't be, and he's the worst Republican in
(04:03):
the Senate. Can you give us a little sense of
the bill that you just mentioned that he's has as well.
I don't know that i'd call it an alternative, but
you know what he's trying to do along these lines.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Well, ROSSI, I know you follow this stuff pretty closely,
and whether you talk about or not is another issue.
But there was this bill in the last Congress called
the Proact, which was this terrible mortgag's board of big
labor power, including the repeal of all the right to
work laws across the country, and what Josh how We
did at the beginning of this session was break it
apart in six different pieces and said he was going
to start introducing bills. One of the pieces of that
(04:35):
was this kind of forced arbitration of contract. Basically, what
happens is a union gets certified, you must start negotiating
within ten days. If you don't have an agreement within
ninety days of all the conditions of employment ross that's
the important part about it, and including forced dues. Will
workers be forced to pay dues to a union to
keep their jobs, That's part of the negotiation. If you
don't have that done in ninety days, then a federal
mediator bureaucrat will come to you. They'll negotiate with you
(04:58):
mediate and then at the end of a third today period,
if you don't have an agreement on all the conditions
of employment, the federal government will impose a contract and
a private business for up to two years. That means
the employees don't get devoted, the employer doesn't get to
vote on it. The federal government says, this is how
you will run your business for the next two years.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Wow. That's an insane bill, and doubly insane coming from
a Republican. But again, it's part of why I truly
can't stand as Josh Hawley. Mark Mix is president of
the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation NRTW dot org,
a wonderful and important organization. Thanks for being here, Mark,
and we'll keep up with you on this issue if
(05:35):
and as it progresses.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Thanks ros appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Okay, good to have you
I know usually spend a lot of time on the
show on national political issues that aren't really up for
a vote just yet. But sometimes something comes along that
I think is so important it's worth talking about just
to raise everybody's attention to it and hopefully it will
come up for a vote. And Bill Cassidy, who is
a Republican Senator from Louisiana, has been working on a
(00:22):
bunch of bills to update and modernize and add a
little more freedom to American labor laws. And I guess,
unsurprisingly one of his opponents is the worst Republican by
far in the US Senate, a guy named Josh Hawley,
who might as well be a Democrat on most issues.
But I care a lot about this stuff, but probably
(00:45):
not as much as Mark Mix does. Mark Mix is
president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation,
and he joins us for a few minutes just to
kind of help us understand this issue and where it
might be going. Hey, Mark, welcome back to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Hey Ross, good to be with you, and thanks for
that introduction.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
You nailed it.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I mean, this is kind of an update and a
freshening of labor policy that was written back in the
nineteen thirties, and I think most people would agree that
the workplace has changed and the so called balance of
labor versus capital has changed, and it's about time that
we had a debate about issues that have heretofore given
unique powers to union officials over workers. And of course
(01:24):
Donald Trump talked about supporting workers' rights and empowering workers
in this economy, and I think this labor policy package
that Kennedy Cassidy's introduced is really an important part of that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So just give us a brief thumbnail, because we only
got about four minutes here, So give us a brief
thumbnail of some of Cassidy's primary proposed reforms.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, first and foremost, let's have secret fout elections when
it comes to union certification. Let's protect the private data
of individual workers when unions are trying to organize people.
Let's protect workers that would maybe be involved in a
labor dispute and step down the violence and intimidation that
goes on picket lines. Let's make sure that workers have
an opportunity to basically raise concerns in the workplace, and
(02:11):
that they get the freedom from this monopoly exclusive bargaining
privileges that union officials have been given again since nineteen
thirty five. So that's the package eight bills that basically
say workers will have more rights in the American workplace.
And it's in contrast to Josh Howay's bill that would
allow the federal government to impose contracts on private businesses
(02:31):
for up to two years. So really interesting debate between
the two sides here.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So two quick follow ups. Then, the second thing you
mentioned in that list of Cassidy's bills was about protecting
private information. Does that mean limiting the ability of union
organizers to get things like cell phone numbers and home
addresses of workers so that they can go intimidate.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Them exactly, That's exactly what it means. And Ross, We've
had a couple of business where, you know, we found
out that the union officials, in gathering intelligence like this
on workers are trying to organize, have friends at the
DMV that run license plates and things like that, cell
phone numbers, work schedules, all that stuff is part of
that personal information that we think should be protected and
(03:16):
only given to union officials if someone wants to give.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
It to them. So, and I'll just say for the record,
if you know more often than not. If large labor
unions are in favor of something, then I'm against it
because I think they're generally bad for the economy. They're
anti freedom, They're basically like a tax on society. And
I'm not saying that that. You know, citizens should not
be allowed to organize, right, it's a free country. Although
(03:41):
I don't think government workers should be allowed to unionize.
Private citizens can. But that doesn't mean I have to
like the unions, especially the big ones. I don't really understand,
well I do. I mean, Josh Hawley is a socially
conservative Democrat who's out there living as a Republican, but
he probably shouldn't be, and he's the worst Republican in
(04:03):
the Senate. Can you give us a little sense of
the bill that you just mentioned that he's has as well.
I don't know that i'd call it an alternative, but
you know what he's trying to do along these lines.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Well, ROSSI, I know you follow this stuff pretty closely,
and whether you talk about or not is another issue.
But there was this bill in the last Congress called
the Proact, which was this terrible mortgag's board of big
labor power, including the repeal of all the right to
work laws across the country, and what Josh how We
did at the beginning of this session was break it
apart in six different pieces and said he was going
to start introducing bills. One of the pieces of that
(04:35):
was this kind of forced arbitration of contract. Basically, what
happens is a union gets certified, you must start negotiating
within ten days. If you don't have an agreement within
ninety days of all the conditions of employment ross that's
the important part about it, and including forced dues. Will
workers be forced to pay dues to a union to
keep their jobs, That's part of the negotiation. If you
don't have that done in ninety days, then a federal
mediator bureaucrat will come to you. They'll negotiate with you
(04:58):
mediate and then at the end of a third today period,
if you don't have an agreement on all the conditions
of employment, the federal government will impose a contract and
a private business for up to two years. That means
the employees don't get devoted, the employer doesn't get to
vote on it. The federal government says, this is how
you will run your business for the next two years.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Wow. That's an insane bill, and doubly insane coming from
a Republican. But again, it's part of why I truly
can't stand as Josh Hawley. Mark Mix is president of
the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation NRTW dot org,
a wonderful and important organization. Thanks for being here, Mark,
and we'll keep up with you on this issue if
(05:35):
and as it progresses.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Thanks ros appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Okay, good to have you
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
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