{"id":5633,"date":"2012-04-05T06:39:09","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T11:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=5633"},"modified":"2012-12-27T13:32:26","modified_gmt":"2012-12-27T19:32:26","slug":"many-remain-bitter-about-right-to-work-in-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2012\/04\/05\/many-remain-bitter-about-right-to-work-in-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"A Decade After Right-to-Work, Bitterness Remains in Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Teamsters Local 523 President Gary Ketchum says right-to-work is simply an attempt at union busting.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/em>Last month, Indiana enacted a law giving workers the choice to opt out of paying union dues. It\u2019s the first successful right-to-work proposal since Oklahoma\u2019s in 2001.<\/p>

Now several other states<\/a> are considering it.<\/p>

Indiana looked to Oklahoma for input on the law\u2019s effects.<\/p>

But the Hoosiers found mixed signals from the Sooner state showing business and union leaders still don\u2019t agree on the issue.<\/p>


\nhttps:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2012\/04\/4-4-RightToWork_FinalCut.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/p>

<\/p>

\u201cSelfishly, for Oklahoma, it would be better if Indiana didn\u2019t enact right-to-work because we believe we have a competitive advantage right now over Indiana by being able to compete against you for jobs and capital,\u201d Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce President Fred Morgan said to the Indiana General Assembly in January.<\/p>

A few days later found Oklahoma union member Kitti Asberry protesting at the Indiana capital in front of WISH-TV cameras.<\/p>\n

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Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

A poster of protest on the wall of Teamsters Local 523.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\u201cWe were just brought down to the middle of a room and told that we were losing our jobs as a result of right-to-work,\u201d Asberry said.<\/p>

Is there anything<\/em> the rest of the country can glean from Oklahoma\u2019s decade under right-to-work?<\/p>

Jonathan Small is the director of fiscal policy for the conservative Oklahoma Counsel of Public Affairs. He says it\u2019s hard to argue with Oklahoma\u2019s <\/em>economy.<\/p>

\u201cOur GDP is up, and productivity has been increased per worker. So, we\u2019ve seen several things happen. We\u2019ve also seen net in-migration of people grow into Oklahoma,\u201d Small says.<\/p>

The numbers can be confusing. Pay for manufacturing workers is down slightly and population increases are a trend across most of the Sun Belt, regardless of whether workers can be forced to pay dues. Assigning credit or blame exclusively to right-to-work isn’t possible. Small says it makes common economic sense and is at least partially responsible for Oklahoma’s relative success over the past decade.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma Labor Union Membership 2001-2011<\/h4>\n
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Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/p>\n

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A Matter of Principle<\/h3>

But Small says at its core right-to-work is more about basic fairness than economic indicators.<\/p>

\u201cRight-to-work isn\u2019t the single, only, sole factor; remembering too, first it\u2019s a principled reason why we do it,\u201d Small says. \u201cWhen you have a policy like we used to have, where someone would have to be a member of some bullying organization in order to get a job, regardless of what the outcome is, we still think it\u2019s better for people to be able to move freely throughout the job market\u201d<\/p>

But basic fairness is also the core argument for union leaders like Gary Ketchum of Teamsters Local 523 in Tulsa.<\/p>

\u201cIt forces the labor unions to have to provide our services to people that choose not to pay dues,\u201d Ketchum says. \u201cIt legalizes theft. It\u2019s morally and ethically wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing Hostilities<\/h3>\n
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Related<\/h4>\n
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Posts<\/h5>\n