Page 18 - The Digital Carpenter, Vol. 1 Issue 2

UNIONS PROTEST RIGHT TO WORK IN DELAWARE
WORKERS IN SUSSEX COUNTY, DELAWARE PROTEST THE RIGHT TO WORK ORDINANCE, WHICH WAS DEFEATED BY COUNCIL 4-1 IN JANUARY
According to a 2015 report by the Economic Policy Institute: “Right To Work laws seek to hamstring unions’ ability to help employees bargain with their employers for better wages, bene ts, and working conditions. Given that unionization raises wages both for individual union members as well as for non-union workers in unionized sectors, it is not surprising that research shows that both union and non-union workers in Right To Work states have lower wages and fewer bene ts, on average, than comparable workers in other states.”
EPI further stated that: “Wages in Right To Work states are 3.1 percent lower than those in non-Right To Work states, after controlling for a full complement of individual demographic and socioeconomic factors as well as state macroeconomic indicators. This translates into Right To Work being associated with $1,558 lower annual wages for a typical full-time, full-year worker.”
Billionaire-funded groups like conservative think tank Caesar Rodney Institute and the National Right to Work Foundation don’t share those statistics though; and these well-funded organizations are now bringing new Right To Work battles to our ve-state Council.
In late 2017 in Delaware, Sussex County Councilman Rob Arlett introduced a Right To Work ordinance for workers in the County. Arlett claimed at the time that the ordinance was introduced to grow economic opportunity for Sussex County residents.
After the ordinance was discussed, the Delaware Attorney General said that the County had no legal authority to enact the ordinance in the County. Backed by conservative think tank Caesar Rodney Institute and the National Right to Work Foundation, the ordinance was rst heard at the January 2nd Council meeting and faced a signi cant amount of opposition from residents and Delaware trade unions, including the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters. Due to the signi cant amount of public comment in opposition to the ordinance, the County Council tabled the vote until its next meeting. On January 9th, the Council voted 4-1 – with Arlett being the only yes – against the Right To Work ordinance.
The conservative, billion-funded think tanks weren’t done there though and moved onto the City of Seaford, where on December 12th, the City Council passed its own version of a Right To Work ordinance. Union Carpenters from Local 173 and other trade organizations expressed their opposition to the ordinance at the Council meeting and to the Seaford Star.
The Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters will continue to track this issue in the Commonwealth of Delaware and will continue to ght for the rights of all hardworking American men and women in municipalities, counties, state legislatures and school board rooms across our ve-state Council.
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