It must be slow day for news when the tax exempt Fraser Institute dusts off their old Alberta Right to Work study. Last month the Fraser Institute called for the Alberta Government to reconsider bringing in Right To Work laws, despite their overwhelming rejection last year by a review committee headed by Elaine McCoy.

Fraser Institute policy analyst Fazil Milhar just recycled his original Alberta study, which was first released February 1995. The same study was released again in February of this year promoting Right To Work Laws in British Columbia. That's the way to get mileage out of a stale argument, just change the name of the province and viola a 'new study' and ensuing press coverage.

Mr. Milhar and the Fraser Institute in their single minded promotion of the so called advantages of right to work in the United States fail to tell the whole story. Right To Work in most states has existed for a long time and is wholly irrelevant to attracting business. Let's take Alabama as an example. It has had Right To Work laws since 1953. What it is currently advertising as the 'Alabama Advantage' is tax breaks and subsidies for business. They have a corporate tax of 5%, deferred value added taxes, industrial development incentives and Tennessee power loans for business start up. And they are not the only state, county or city that is trying to attract business in this fashion. Right To Work laws are less important than government hand outs to business.

The Fraser Institute claims that there is an economic advantage to workers and their families in increased take home pay. This is not due to Right To Work laws but the low tax policies of a given state. When this so called advantage is weighed against the fact that these workers do not have Medicare coverage and must 'pay as they go' for other services this suddenly becomes a very real 'disadvantage'.

Finally the Fraser Institute claims that having Right To Work laws will increase labour peace and harmony. France also has right to work laws, no forced union dues check off and a unionized workforce of 8%, less than even Alberta, the smallest unionized workforce of any G7 country. Prime Minister Juppe must be happy knowing that the General Strike that paralyzed France last December couldn't possibly have happened according to the Fraser Institutes study.

Published in Labour News July 1996

BACK