Across the Southeast, a powerful trend is taking shape — one that puts workers, not political organizations, at the center of economic and civic life. People are voting with their feet, abandoning heavy-handed governments in the Northeast and West Coast for states that embrace freedom. 

They see lawmakers in states such as Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama embracing the belief that the future of pro-worker, pro-freedom policies is not in expanding bureaucracy, but in empowering individuals with real choice, transparency, and accountability over their own lives and paychecks. 

If red states want to ensure they are genuinely pro-worker, they must adopt reforms that strengthen employee rights in both the public and private sectors, protect paychecks from political misuse, and guarantee that every American has the freedom to choose whether and how they engage in workplace representation.

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These reforms are no longer theoretical. They are becoming a regional movement that states should embrace if they want to lead the nation in economic growth, personal liberty, and taxpayer accountability.

For decades, public-sector unions have been granted extraordinary privileges that few other institutions enjoyed — privileges that often worked against taxpayers and even many of their own members. The 2018 Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision affirmed that no public employee can be forced to join and pay a union as a condition of employment. However, equal constitutional rights must be matched with real policy. That’s why the Mackinac Center and our Workers for Opportunity initiative have long emphasized that states should align their policies accordingly.

The first step is paycheck protection. Public employees should affirmatively consent every year just like they do with other annual enrollment procedures if they want to join and pay a union — through clear, written authorization. Additionally, no government should serve as a political fundraiser and bill collector for any private organization. Union members should pay their union dues directly to the union, just like people pay their church tithes, gym memberships, and Netflix fees directly. 

States should also implement regular recertification elections, giving public workers the chance to decide whether a union still represents their interests. No organization should hold perpetual authority simply because it won an election decades ago. Under a fair recertification system, a union must win current support from a majority of all employees in the bargaining unit — not simply by default.

Another essential reform is ending taxpayer-funded release time, where public employees effectively do union business at taxpayer expense. This practice forces citizens to subsidize union politics they may disagree with while removing valuable personnel from critical public services. Ending release time ensures taxpayers pay for public work, not private activism.

Finally, states should increase transparency in public-sector representation by requiring unions to disclose how they spend workers’ dues — particularly on political activity. Full transparency empowers employees to make informed decisions about whether a union’s values match their own.

These reforms — already sweeping through conservative states — create a public-sector environment rooted in accountability, worker choice, and responsible stewardship of taxpayers’ dollars.

Private sector workers deserve the same protections for autonomy, transparency, and choice.

Right-to-work states should also follow Tennessee’s example by putting right-to-work in their state constitutions. In 2022, Tennessee voters approved the constitutional amendment by a 2-1 margin, and it received sweeping support from all of Tennessee’s 95 counties, further codifying right-to-work protections for Tennessee workers. Let Michigan be a warning to all states; for a decade, Michigan had statutory right-to-work protections for workers, only for them to be undone by its state legislature within 90 days of Democratic control.

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States should adopt private secret ballot elections for unionization votes. Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama have all required companies that receive taxpayer-funded economic incentives to guarantee a secret ballot vote on any unionization effort. Just like when they vote in the ballot box, workers will have the right to a private ballot where only they know how they vote. Alternatively, card check campaigns often rely on pressure tactics, social intimidation, or misleading information. These private-sector reforms elevate worker choice, protect individual liberty, and keep politics out of the workplace.

Being truly “pro-worker” requires more than slogans. It requires policies that place workers’ freedom above institutional power, transparency above secrecy, and choice above coercion. The Southeast is already leading the way, but there is more work to be done in states across our nation. States that embrace the full slate of reforms will unlock greater freedoms for workers while becoming magnets for talent, investment, and growth.

David Guenthner is the executive director of Workers for Opportunity.

, 2025-12-12 20:48:00, , Washington Examiner, %%https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon.png?w=32, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, David Guenthner