Republicans and The Right to Die

I thought it was a bad deal when The Right to Work Law passed in Louisiana in 1976. I was 24 at the time and naively thought it wouldn't last long. But as the years went on and it remained law, I began to call it The Right to be Fired Law, for I could see the only group benefiting from it were employers (the Capitalists)--not workers. 


The Cato Institute has a different take on this, they hold that Federal Labor Laws infringe on the employment liberty of workers to sell their (our) services without constraint by Federal or State Laws, i.e., if a worker wants to sell his services below minimum wage or work more than 40 hours without overtime, that worker should be able to do that. And that is what The Right to Work Law does, it empowers everyone to work longer for less. The Cato Institute and their followers really do; read this screed written by Richard Vedder in 2008, or as much as you can stomach.


The AFL-CIO has a different take on this law, they call it the The Right to Work for Less.  They provide some interesting facts--documented, of course--that prove their point, like:
1. Right to work laws lower wages for everyone. 
2. Federal law already protects workers who don’t want to join a union to get or keep their jobs.
3. Right to work endangers safety and health standards that protect workers on the job by weakening unions that help to ensure worker safety by fighting for tougher safety rules.


There are 22 states with Right to Work Laws. Every Southern State has bought into this and their people suffer for it. 


The average worker in a right to work state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167).[1] Weekly wages are $72 greater in free-bargaining states than in right to work states ($621 versus $549).[2] Working families in states without right to work laws have higher wages and benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life.


Since the Right to Work for Less or Be Fired Law was enacted, Louisiana has gotten poorer, our population and tax base have shrunk. Jindal and his cronies have done everything they could to cut taxes on the wealthy and the corporations. 


God forbid the Unions ever gain a foothold in Louisiana, and without Unions the rights we will have are the Right to Live Poor and the Right to Die. Norma Rae, where are you?