Supporting Right-To-Work Laws

Floor Speech

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Mr. BROOKS. Madam Speaker, earlier this month, employees at Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment facility rejected unionization by a 1,798-738 vote. That is a monumental 70 percent against unions to a meager 30 percent for unions.

Bam. That kind of vote sends a powerful anti-union, pro-liberty message to America and the world.

I applaud Amazon's Bessemer employees for rejecting unionization attempts by out-of-state agitators, from the President to Hollywood actors and on down. A primary reason why Amazon chose to locate nearly 6,000 good-paying jobs in Alabama is Alabama's nonunion reputation.

Alabama maintains that reputation after Bessemer's overwhelming anti- union vote, thus ensuring even more companies will relocate even more good-paying jobs from union States up north into Alabama.

Alabama is a right-to-work State.

What does ``right to work'' mean?

Right-to-work laws protect citizens from being forced against their will to join a union, pay union dues, and subject themselves to union bosses.

Alabama's right-to-work status gives Alabama a strong economic advantage over forced union States. For example, 69 percent of jobs reshored from overseas back into America between 2010 and 2019 have gone to right-to-work States. U.S. Commerce Department data, adjusted for cost-of-living differences, revealed that 2019's manufacturing job pay in right-to-work States averaged $83,000 per employee, $4,000 more than in forced union States. That is a big difference in pay.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, right-to-work States' overall job growth was a robust 11 percent over the past decade versus a meager 2.4 percent in forced union States. When that data is limited to manufacturing jobs only, right-to-work States, over the past decade, enjoyed a very good 9.1 percent increase in manufacturing jobs while forced union States had a horrible two-tenths of 1 percent cut in manufacturing jobs.

Better yet, 2018 Census data reveals that after-tax mean income per household, after cost-of-living adjustment, was $64,572 in right-to- work States versus $60,244 in forced union States. That is, on average, $4,328 more real, adjusted for cost of living, income per capita in right-to-work versus union States. That is a huge difference.

So, Madam Speaker, the economic data clearly proves that right-to- work laws benefit workers. Consistent with that economic prosperity and desire for freedom and liberty--after all, no one likes being told what they can and cannot do--74 percent of Americas say they support right-to-work laws, according to a recent Gallup Poll.

Despite overwhelming American support for right-to-work laws, dictatorial Socialists in March rammed through the House a bill that repeals all right-to-work laws in America. Worse yet, dictatorial Socialists seek to use President Biden's infrastructure bill to slip in a provision that repeals all right-to-work laws in America.

I hope neither of these terrible dictatorial bills ever reaches President Biden's desk. Certainly, I will vote against them and I will vote for freedom, liberty, and protection of America's right-to-work laws.

Madam Speaker, America would be stronger if more States would enact right-to-work laws. I encourage citizens and elected officials to promote right-to-work laws, freedom of choice, and the freedom and liberty right-to-work laws represent.

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