There is something deeply revealing about an anti-union executive publishing a Labor Day opinion piece telling Connecticut workers that unions are the problem.
Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee, wants Connecticut workers to believe that so-called "Right to Work" legislation is about freedom. It isn't. It's about power, specifically, whether that power belongs to everyday workers or corporate executives.
"Right to Work" laws do not guarantee a job, higher wages, or safer working conditions. Instead, they financially weaken unions by letting workers receive the full protections of collectively bargained contracts without contributing a dime toward the cost of negotiating them. It is designed to starve labor organizations so they can't fight for fair pay and workplace safety. What Mix is really advocating for is "Right to Work for Less."
Workplace power imbalances are real and getting worse. Average S&P 500 CEO pay surged to $22.8 million, widening the average CEO-to-worker pay ratio to a staggering 312-to-1 last year. It was 20-to1 in 1965. When a single chief executive makes in a couple of days what their average employee earns in an entire year, individual workers standing alone have zero leverage. Organizing is the only tool that levels the playing field.
Mix's narrative also misrepresents existing federal law, which already guarantees that no one can be forced to join a union. But unions are legally required to represent everyone in the bargaining unit, including those who choose not to join. In Connecticut, workers covered by a contract simply contribute a fractional fee toward enforcement and negotiation expenses. That is fundamentally different from forcing someone to join a union.
Support for labor unions is booming across the political spectrum. National union membership grew by roughly 410,000 workers in 2025, while Gallup reported this week that 71% of Americans approve of unions, including 89% of Democrats, 70% of independents, and 52% of Republicans. A record 47% of Americans want unions to have more influence, more than double the 23% who want less. Few other issues garner that much support across the political spectrum these days, proving that it's not a partisan debate. It's a matter of basic workplace fairness.
As a Building Trades union leader, I see firsthand what collective bargaining delivers for our members: safe job sites, quality apprenticeship programs, family health benefits, and secure retirements. All workers deserve the power to negotiate directly with the people signing their paychecks. Increasingly, they are choosing to do it together. That is what Mark Mix fears.
The writer is the business manager and secretary-treasurer of the Connecticut Laborers' District Council, a statewide affiliate of the Laborers' International Union of North America
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This article originally published at Letter: Workers deserve fair wages and benefits, not the 'Right to Work' for less.