Arizonans deserve real bargaining power

OPINION — Arizona workers deserve more than a “right to work.” They deserve the ability to bargain from a position of strength.

Since 1946, Arizona’s Constitution has prohibited denying someone employment because they do not belong to a labor organization. But our state’s broader labor policies have too often tilted the balance away from organized workers and toward employers.

That imbalance matters.

Large corporations and wealthy individuals have enormous resources to influence public policy, elections and the messages Americans hear every day. Individual workers rarely possess comparable power. Acting together, they can negotiate for better wages, safer workplaces, reasonable benefits and greater economic security.

That is the fundamental purpose of collective bargaining: giving working people a meaningful voice in decisions that directly affect their livelihoods.

Arizona should examine its labor laws with that principle in mind. Lawmakers should strengthen protections for workers who choose to organize, remove unnecessary obstacles to collective bargaining and give local communities greater flexibility to establish labor standards appropriate to their public projects.

Voters should make this an election issue.

Ask candidates for the Arizona Legislature a simple question: Will you protect the ability of working people to organize and bargain collectively? Then consider their answer when you cast your ballot.

A healthy free-market economy requires balance. Employers and capital already have powerful voices in our political and economic system.

Arizona’s workers deserve a powerful voice, too.

Annarose Lilly is chair of Arizona LD 28 Democrats. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.