Ted Budd: “A labor union's purpose is simple: to represent its members and to bargain on their behalf. But for millions of…”

“A labor union's purpose is simple: to represent its members and to bargain on their behalf. But for millions of Americans who are currently paying union dues, their money is sometimes being used for political advocacy that they may not support. The First Amendment in our Constitution grants workers around the country the freedom to donate or not to donate to any political cause. As it currently stands, however, union members have to opt out of having their dues spent on certain political activity. This process can be burdensome, and it can be complicated and time consuming. Instead of asking workers to go through a lengthy process just to avoid funding political causes they don't support, they should have the choice from the start whether to opt in to that spending or not. Earlier this week, I introduced the National Paycheck Protection Act that would require an employee's consent before their labor organization dues are used for any purpose not directly related to collective bargaining. Mr. Speaker, union members are Americans before they are Republicans or Democrats, and this simple change would be the first step in the fight for more worker freedom. ____________________”