Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, introduced a bill earlier this month that bans labor unions from funding antisemitism and other hatred with member dues without their members’ consent.
The Union Members Right-to-Know Act parallels a House bill submitted in late May.
“The purpose of a union is to represent their members, not force them to fund extreme political agendas against their will,” Cassidy said. “Union members pay unions to represent them before management. This legislation keeps unions focused on that.”
The senator and the committee’s investigation “found that many workers are unaware they have the right to pull their union dues from antisemitic activities that have nothing to do with collective bargaining,” the senator stated.
In his statement, Cassidy added that “he also found that unions make it difficult to opt out of these unrelated costs, including bogging down workers with excess litigation that ends up costing more than the actual dues.”
The new legislation “amends current law to empower workers to opt into paying for any union activities not related to collective bargaining, ensuring their union dues are not used to promote antisemitism or any other bigotry,” he stated.
The legislation “allows workers to prevent their hard-earned dollars being diverted to pay for political activities that they do not support,” stated Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Ryan Walker, executive vice president of Heritage Action, added that “many union leaders today misappropriate their members’ dues to advocate for their own political agendas.”
“We’re past due to rein in union leaders’ unchecked power to use their members’ dues to fund whatever leadership wants without workers’ knowledge,” Walker said.
The bill “puts a stop to this practice and ensures no American worker should ever have to foot the bill for causes that violate his or her rights and values,” he added.
