Kelley Attacks Right-To-Work Laws

"Right-to-work is a cleverly conceived slogan created by some huckster on Madison Avenue," Kenneth Kelley, Secretary-Treasurer of the Massachusetts A.F. of L. said last night in an address to the Harvard Eisenhower Young Republican Club.

Kelley said right-to-work is a "sheer hoax to delude people into thinking that passage of these acts will get anyone a job." Right-to-work is a "conditional right depending on the desires of the particular employer."

Kelley asserted that the union shop, "which is as American as apple pie," eliminates friction between plant employees that could cause a drop in production. He added that a union is in a much stronger position to enforce terms of collective bargaining when it has full support of all workers concerned.

In the 17 states that have legislated right-to-work laws, the average earnings have been 20 per cent less than those in states that have not passed similar legislation. In addition, no great degree of industrial peace has been brought about in those states with right-to-work laws.

"The mantle of 'savior and protector' of the working people doesn't fit industrial 'fat-cats' who are promoting legislation in various states," he concluded.