The Grand Bargain: Revitalizing Labor Through NLRA Reform and Radical Workplace Relations

Abstract

State “right-to-work” laws, which prohibit unions from imposing fees for the costs of representation, do not necessarily weaken organized labor. Instead of draining resources, the dues collection process can be an opportunity for deliberative encounters that build the types of relationships that drive solidarity and collective action. As a result, though federal labor law is famously paralyzed by congressional deadlock, major statutory reform is possible because the change sought by the business community to hasten labor’s demise — a national right-to-work law — can actually play a role in the movement’s revival. The labor movement should thus consider accepting a grand legislative bargain that cements right-to-work in the fifty states in exchange for its own favored proposal, union certification through signed cards or petitions.

Keywords: right-to-work, labor, unions, card check, NLRA, radical democracy