SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION No. 27
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED MAY 16, 1996
By Senator SCHLUTER
A Joint Resolution memorializing Congress and the President of the United States to repeal certain provisions of the Taft-Hartley Amendments of 1947 to section 14(b) of the "National Labor Relations Act," (29 U.S.C. §164(b)).
Whereas, Certain provisions of the Taft-Hartley Amendments of 1947 to the "National Labor Relations Act," (29 U.S.C. §151 et seq.) authorize the states to enact "right-to-work" laws which, while recognizing the federally-guaranteed right of workers to participate in democratic elections regarding the establishment of union representation and the termination of such representation, prohibit agreements between employers and labor unions from requiring employees to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment; and
Whereas, The ability of state governments to prohibit union membership requirements derives exclusively from the congressional delegation of authority to those governments pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §164(b), and not from the sovereign rights of the state governments; and
Whereas, The actual legal differences between the states with "right-to-work" laws and those without such laws are not as great as is sometimes supposed, as demonstrated by the fact that even in states that have adopted "right-to-work" laws, the "National Labor Relations Act" explicitly guarantees the right of workers to hold democratic elections regarding the establishment of union representation and to terminate union representation, and the fact that even in states that have not adopted "right-to-work" laws, unions and employers are permitted, under the "National Labor Relations Act," to negotiate agreements which do not have to include compulsory membership or payment of dues to labor organizations; and
Whereas, These state "right-to-work" laws, although limited in the manner indicated above, have contributed to reduced union membership and lower wage and benefit levels in the states that have adopted them; and
Whereas, The lower wage and benefit levels have given the 21 states which have "right-to-work" laws , principally in the southern and western regions of the nation, a competitive economic advantage over states which do not; and
Whereas, That competitive economic advantage has encouraged the migration of manufacturing businesses and jobs away from the Northeast and Midwestern industrialized states, which have not enacted "right-to-work" laws, to the state which have enacted such laws; and
Whereas, In the years between 1947 and 1995, regional shares of manufacturing employment have increasingly become closer to the population shares of each region of the nation to the point where the nation's economy exhibits an even distribution of industrial employment among its constituent regions; and
Whereas, In states where the majority of the electorate holds strong beliefs about the benefits of collective bargaining and union membership, "right-to-work" laws have not been enacted and are not likely to be enacted; and
Whereas, The founders of our national government recognized that "competitions of commerce" among the states are a threat to the unity and stability of the Republic, that the nation and its commerce would suffer if each state were permitted "to pursue a system of commercial policy peculiar to itself" because such "distinctions, preferences, and exclusions . . . would beget discontent (as) particular States might endeavor to secure exclusive benefits to their own citizens," and that disruptive competition among the states could be prevented through the establishment of national policies on matters susceptible to interstate competition and rivalry; and
Whereas, Nationally, the relocation of jobs, together with downsizing, outsourcing, contracting out and other forms of worker displacement, have contributed to a far slower growth rate of pay and benefits during the current economic recovery than in the preceding four recoveries, even though corporate profits are at a 45-year high; and
Whereas, If the resulting erosion of the economic health of the middle-class continues, it will eventually have the profoundest negative impact on the fabric of American society and, possibly, even our institutions of representative democracy; and
Whereas, Congress and the President have enacted, in recognition of the wisdom of the authors of the Constitution of the United States, uniform national policies that attempt to achieve a delicate balance between the rights of management and the rights of labor with equal effect in all the states, including laws regarding the minimum wage, child labor, unemployment compensation, wages and hours, occupational health and safety, plant closing, and fair employment practices; and
Whereas, That the inherent difficulties of formulating an intermediate compromise position satisfactory to all concerned parties have proven insurmountable during the 49 years since the law was enacted means that the only way to achieve a uniform national policy on this matter without imposing right-to-work laws on all states is to repeal entirely the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Amendments of 1947 to section 14 (b) of the "National Labor Relations Act" (29 U.S.C. §164(b)); now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Congress and the President of the United States are respectfully memorialized to repeal the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Amendments of 1947 to section 14 (b) of the "National Labor Relations Act" (29 U.S.C. §164(b)), which authorizes states to prohibit the execution or application of agreements requiring membership in a labor organization or the payment of dues to a labor organization as a condition of employment, in order to provide equal treatment under the law to those states which do not enact such laws and which, as a result, are suffering comparative economic disadvantages in their attempts to retain and develop manufacturing plants and jobs.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this joint resolution shall be transmitted to the President, the presiding officers of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and each member of Congress elected from the State of New Jersey.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This resolution memorializes Congress and the President to repeal the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Amendments of 1947 to the "National Labor Relations Act," (29 U.S.C. §151 et seq.) which authorize the states to enact "right-to-work" laws. Such a repeal will create a single, uniform national policy with regard to union membership, consistent with other national policies that have been established with regard to other aspects of labor-management relations and that place all states on the same plane with regard to labor policy. It will encourage the maintenance of appropriate wage levels which will not only promote the well-being of the nation's workforce but also stimulate business investments to raise labor productivity. New Jersey and the nation require high-productivity labor to effectively compete in an increasingly globalized economy.
"Right-to-work" laws have resulted in lower levels of union membership in the states which have adopted them and have contributed to the undercutting of wage levels in those states. In 1993, for example, New Jersey's average hourly earnings for production workers on manufacturing payrolls equalled $12.98 per hour. By contrast, "right-to-work" states had significantly lower average hourly wage rates: South Dakota, $8.89; South Carolina, $9.80; Mississippi, $9.16; Arkansas, $9.36; and North Carolina, $9.80.
This competitive advantage has encouraged the migration of employment away from states which, like New Jersey, have not enacted "right-to-work" laws to states which have. Between 1988 and 1994, the 100 largest firms in New Jersey reduced the number of New Jersey jobs from 562,241 to 494,688, a decrease of 67,600, or 12%. During that time, the number of New Jersey manufacturing jobs decreased from 662,100 to 509,900, a decline of 152,200, or 23%. Manufacturing employment in New Jersey has declined every year since 1982.
Here and in other states, the loss of jobs, through relocation or other forms of displacement, has reduced the growth of pay and benefits levels in recent years, notwithstanding unusually high rates of corporate profits.
Memorializes Congress and President to repeal provisions of Taft-Hartley Amendments which authorize state right-to-work laws.