Fair Share or Unsolicited Union Representation?

A bill that will require non-union members to pay their “fair share” for union representation – albeit unsolicited – is expected to hit the bill stack soon. Labor leaders are rumored to be making their way into the State House lobby and meeting rooms behind the House and Senate Chambers.

Union leaders are fed up with non-union members receiving the same benefits they “win” for union employees without paying their dues. So to get around requiring them to join the union, which is prohibited by Iowa’s Right-to-Work law, union bosses will just require them to pay a fee for representation.

Union leaders don’t have to represent those who aren’t paying their “fair share” – they choose to.

Only about 10-12 percent of Iowa's workers choose belong to a union.

Iowa’s neighbors that have fair-share laws include Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. Does Iowa really want to replicate anything that Illinois does? I think not. South Dakota and Nebraska do not have fair-share laws and South Dakota is ranked as one of the top states in the nation in which to do business in part for that reason.

When Iowans are struggling to pay bills as it is the last thing they want is to be told they MUST pay for union representation whether they want it or not.