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Jonathan Fickies

— Tom Murphy, chapter leader

When I was growing up in Brooklyn I used to love watching old black-and-white science fiction movies with my father.

My all-time favorite was “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (the 1956 original, not the 1978 remake). The film was a 1950s propaganda piece about the need to remain vigilant against the spread of communism. But its message has strong parallels to attacks today on labor unions.

In the film, mysterious pods replace people while they sleep. These “replacement people” look the same but are devoid of emotion and appear soulless. People literally become shells of their former selves. To prevent losing oneself, a person must remain awake and never sleep.

Today, we must be awake to the attacks that seek to destroy labor unions in New York and across the country.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin just signed a bill that makes his state the 25th to adopt a right-to-work law, adding momentum to the growing anti-union movement.

Right-to-work is a misnomer. These laws don’t guarantee anyone a job. They just allow some workers a free ride: the right to pay nothing while still enjoying all the benefits of union membership. Under right-to-work, a union must still represent every employee in its bargaining unit, whether the worker pays dues or fees or not. So the union must do its work with far less revenue.

Right-to-work laws cripple organized labor. When workers stop paying dues, those who remain members bear a greater share of operating costs. As a financially starved union eventually becomes less effective, workers have more reason to leave, creating a downward spiral.

As more and more states pass right-to-work laws, it is Michigan that has caused the most astonishment. Who would have thought that the home of the American auto industry and the United Auto Workers would turn in an anti-labor direction?

In Illinois, the newly elected governor took it a step further by announcing an executive order that would allow state workers to opt out of paying union dues and fees.

These attacks on labor are touted by business-friendly legislators as stifling economic growth. NONSENSE! These laws are solely about destroying labor unions that have historically aligned themselves with Democrats. By weakening organized labor, pro-corporate Republicans seek to eradicate, through legislation, the power of those who champion the working class.

According to an AFL-CIO study, states with right-to-work laws have:

• Lower wages — incomes averaging $5,971 less per year than workers in other states.
• Lower rates of health coverage — 16.3 percent of the population is uninsured compared to 12.4 percent in other states.
• Higher poverty — 14.8 percent of the population with 20.2 percent of children in poverty, compared to overall rates of 13.1 percent and 18.3 percent of children in other states.
• Lower investment in education — 31.3 percent less per pupil in elementary and secondary education.
• Higher workplace fatalities — workplace deaths are 54.4 percent higher in right-to-work states.

A case that could head to the U.S. Supreme Court within the next two years is even more troubling than states’ right-to-work laws. In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a group of California public school teachers argue that a state law requiring public employees to pay union dues violates their First Amendment rights. Their lawsuit intends to strike down compulsory union dues laws in 26 states and to create a national right-to-work law from the bench for public employees.

Here in New York, we have our hands full with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his hedge-fund buddies who are promoting misguided education policies and attacking teachers. Cuomo doesn’t like unions or teachers and, based upon his stated goals, I think it’s possible that he could establish a right-to-work policy here. Our current battle with him may be just beginning.

That brings me back to “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Just as the characters in the movie had to remain awake, we must remain vigilant against the attacks on our rights. Today’s attempts to destroy labor unions are all too similar to the invasion in my favorite movie, and all too real.

We must fight those who wish to weaken us. Today, we either stand with labor or against it. Standing on the sidelines, watching and doing nothing are no longer viable options.