right to work (RTW)

Labor Watch
In Defense of Taft-Hartley: Why Taft-Hartley Came to Be
In 1947, organized labor reaped the whirlwind from the massive disruptions it inflicted on the American economy in 1945–46. Sen. Robert A. Taft (R-OH) shepherded passage of the Labor Management…
by Michael Watson on October 17, 2023

Labor Watch
In Defense of Taft-Hartley: The Taft-Hartley Consensus
Taft-Hartley accepted as fait accompli the Wagner Act’s framework of compulsory, monopoly-union bargaining. It also accepted as fait accompli numerous restrictions on employers’ conduct related to employee organization, including restrictions…
by Michael Watson on October 17, 2023

Labor Watch
In Defense of Taft-Hartley: Advancing Voluntarism
Every conservative dragooned by circumstance into a unionized workplace is compelled to make a Hobson’s choice: Either concede any voice in the workplace by resigning from the union, or pay…
by Michael Watson on October 17, 2023

Labor Watch
In Defense of Taft-Hartley: Protecting the Public
The past few years should be an object lesson in why the Taft-Hartley principles limiting unions’ power to disrupt commerce and society—remember the parade of horribles that President Truman detailed…
by Michael Watson on October 17, 2023

Featured Items
Capital Research, May/June 2023
In the May/June issue of Capital Research, left-wing donors spend tens of millions of dollars to push gun control. Criminal justice reform has become big business, with both extremes raking…
by CRC Staff on June 27, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Statism from the Right
For almost 80 years, the conservative movement and the Republican Party that has served as its imperfect electoral vehicle have sought to advance three goals related to labor relations. But…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Big Labor Radicalizes
As conservatives advanced their moderate aims in the post–New Deal era, Big Labor started radicalizing. As workers’ freedom not to join unions thrived under right-to-work laws led to stalled growth…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Strange Bedfellows
A Mandate for Labor Error Statism from the Right | Big Labor Radicalizes Strange Bedfellows | Coming to Policy at Last…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Coming to Policy at Last
Project 2025 did not fully abandon the policies of the Taft-Hartley consensus. The document rejects the Biden administration–Big Labor approach to expanding union power and membership. But the worst proposal…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Conclusion
The Taft-Hartley consensus—making union membership voluntary, subjecting unions to government oversight, and protecting consumers and the economy from labor strife—worked. It apparently worked so well that conservatives forgot why they…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023