The "right-to-work" antidote!

It's Labor Day, but sadly, the Far Right's war against the American worker continues unchecked. The Media lately has been happy to help by spreading outright lies to promote misnamed "right-to-work" laws - which has now become the anti-worker Right's top priority, much as "free trade" was 20 years ago.

As a member of the National Writers Union, I know organized labor is a lifesaver. For me, that's literally true. I'm convinced I'd be dead by now if it wasn't for the benefits unions provide.

With the authoritarian Right chomping at the bit to enact "right-to-work" in Kentucky and other key states, what would be a good antidote? For starts, free bargaining states should extend their labor protections to residents who commute to "right-to-work" states - so that the "right-to-work" law does not apply to them. (Then again, why would a resident of a free state work in a "right-to-work" state? I don't know anyone eager to commute to Indiana these days.) But we also need something bolder.

We should pass a law that automatically unionizes corporations that have more than a certain number of employees. Under my law, workers wouldn't be required to join the union, but they'd at least have the option. And workers who choose to join would at least have union benefits they now lack. If there's no state or federal law to do this, local municipalities should act.

Hitler had the world's first "right-to-work" law. That's what the Tea Party and the Republican Right aspire to. Make no mistake: Union-busting is fascism. There's a good reason why a Kentucky legislative committee recently rejected "right-to-work" by a vote of 15 to 4.

The states targeted by the "right-to-work" Gestapo need to stand strong. Our legislators should move forward with the antidote I've proposed.