Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation and the National Right to Work Committee, has an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal on the disastrous economic implications of handing Big Labor more forced unionism power:

By the mid-1930s, the U.S. economy appeared to be climbing out of the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), which had bottomed out at 41 in 1932, was advancing. It increased 73% from the beginning of 1935 through the end of 1936, when it hit 180. The number of unemployed, 13 million in 1933, dropped to 9.5 million in 1935 and 7.6 million in 1936.

Then, in 1937, the DJIA plunged 33% in what is often called "a depression within a depression." Joblessness skyrocketed.

A principal factor in the meltdown that year was the U.S. Supreme Court's surprise 5-4 decision in early April to uphold the constitutionality of the Wagner Act, which had passed two years earlier. This measure, which is still the basis of our labor relations regime, authorized union officials to seek and obtain the power to act as the "exclusive" (that is, the monopoly) bargaining agent over all the front-line employees, including union nonmembers as well as members, in a unionized workplace.

[...]

If the mislabeled "Employee Free Choice Act," becomes law, it will likely have a similar effect on the economy as the original Wagner Act, transforming what could have been a recovery into a lengthy, deep recession, or worse.

Read the whole thing here.

What the op-ed didn't have the space to get to is the card check's negative impact on employee freedom. As we've explained elsewhere, allowing union operatives to publicly browbeat workers into signing away their rights to self-representation would open the door to intimidation and coercion. Because of this, the Foundation is preparing for a flood of cases if card check becomes the law of the land.

For a good primer on the dangers of card-check organizing drives, check out this Foundation video report.

On behalf of the Foundation, I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. While I hope everyone enjoys their day off, now seems like an appropriate time to flag Foundation President Mark Mix's statement commemorating the occasion. Here's an excerpt:

“Meanwhile, many workers feel they have little choice but to pay for organized labor’s billion-dollar 2008 election campaign, and many workers are unaware of their right to object. That’s why the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is providing free legal aid to thousands of employees nationwide seeking to get their money back. In fact, in October Foundation attorneys will argue their fourteenth case accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court – a case which defends the right of workers to refuse to pay for union activism using their mandatory union dues.

“This Labor Day, we commend those courageous American workers who are standing up to union intimidation, harassment, and even violence as they defend their cherished freedoms of conscience, speech, and association. And we work toward the day when no American is forced to pay tribute to an unwanted union.”

Read the rest of the statement (and download it as an Mp3) here or simply play the YouTube below from the Foundation's YouTube channel:

Here's a new video from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix thanking supporters for helping the Foundation fight compulsory unionism online by creating cutting edge video content in its new in-house production studio.