Organized labor

I don’t mind when a chamber of commerce uses its position to advocate a right-wing, pro-business agenda, but I take exception when it uses innuendo to spread falsehoods as was the case in Julio Fuentes’ Feb. 9 anti-union opinion article, Republicans lead on guaranteeing citizens their right to work.

He suggests Big Labor has an “increasing stranglehold on the workplace,” yet gloats that private-sector unions represent less than a third of the number of workers they once did and that “only 7 percent of our workforce is unionized.” That’s hardly the case for “union dominance.” What percent of unionization would the chamber find acceptable? Zero?

Whenever I see the phrase “union bosses,” I have to smile. Union leaders aren’t bosses as nobody works for them. Union leaders are elected by a majority of their peers in a democratic process and in accordance with strict federal labor laws.

This inappropriately named Employee Rights Act is nothing more than another Republican shot fired at organized labor, as well as a gift to Corporate America and big-dollar donors.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Organized labor."