Right to Work Through the Cartoonist's Eye


In the early 1870’s, Thomas Nast, a young cartoonist for Harpers Weekly did what a generation of reformers had been unable to do; he broke Tammany Hall. Nast’s graphic parodies of Boss Tweed and his corrupt political machine aroused a storm of protest which swept the Tweed ring from power.

A century later, in the tradition of Thomas Nast, cartoonists are exposing legalized extortion (in the form of compulsory unionism,) graft, and the arbitrary power of a political machine far stronger than anything imagined by Boss Tweed. The machine is Big Labor.

The National Right to Work Committee applauds the important work of the many dedicated artists and journalists represented in this booklet. The illustrations comprise a history of the Right to Work Committee and its fight against compulsory unionism over the last two decades.

Under the leadership of Reed Larson, the National Right to Work Committee has beaten off numerous all-out attacks on Right to Work by union bosses in the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, state and federal courts and the many executive departments and regulatory agencies.

The major victories of the Right to Work Committee during the period 1960-1978 are:

* 1962: Defeat of forced unionism in U.S. Aerospace industry, mobilizing rank-and-file opposition to compulsion.

* 1964: Endorsement of compulsory unionism by the prestigious Committee for Economic Development is reversed, resulting in explicit support of the Right to Work principle. “So now the record is straightened out, and our hat’s off to Reed Larson of the Right to Work Committee.” — National Review.

* 1965: In response to Larson’s urgings, Senator Evereet Dirksen leads the successful filibuster to preserve Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act.

* 1968: President Johnson’s attempts at forced unionization of 3,000,,000 federal employees are defeated. “Top administration officials acknowledge that the new order is being held up because of the fear of a political backlash as a result of a very intensive and effective campaign waged by the National Right to Work Committee.” — The Washington Star

* 1969: The Committee fights alone against a postal reorganization plan pushed by the Nixon Administration, major employer associations, and the AFL-CIO. The Committee’s efforts prevented the forced unionization of 750,000 postal service employees.

* 1970: In response to the Committee’s efforts, President Nixon signs a postal reform bill with Right to Work provisions.

* 1975: Right to Work Committee members blizzard the White House with over 700,000 letters, resulting in the veto of the “common situs” picketing bill.

* 1978: Responding to the Committee’s massive direct-mail program, Right to Work supporters send six million cards and letters to U.S. Senators, urging them to defeat the labor law “reform” bill.

**Permission to display granted to the National Institute for Labor Relations Research by the National Right to Work Committee.**

Right to Work Cartoons.pdf 402.9 KB

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