By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In case the rest of the nation didn’t already know it, Maryland is a very liberal, pro-union state.

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Lawmakers have decided to put an exclamation point on that message by passing a new law that requires all public school teachers to pay union dues, whether they choose  to join their local union or not, according to the Washington Examiner.

The legislation, which will likely be signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley next week, is an obvious reaction to right-to-work laws and other anti-union measures recently passed in several other states.

As the Examiner article put it, the new law “bolsters the state’s connection to organized labor as others move toward a right-to-work status.”

Maryland law already requires most public employees to pay union dues, but there was a gap that excluded some teachers, according to the news report. The new law will require teachers to pay about one percent of their gross income to unions to cover the costs of collective bargaining.

If Maryland is now a completely pro-union state, it must also be called an anti-freedom state. The legislation will effectively force citizens to help fund private organizations whether they choose to or not.

A representative from one state union said the new law would guarantee that no workers become “free riders” who benefit from union contracts without paying dues. But there’s nothing that forces unions to represent all employees in any given workplace.

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If certain employees don’t want to join the union, or don’t want to pay dues, they should be free to negotiate their own compensation with the employer. That’s fair, isn’t it?

Not to the unions, which count on forced dues to keep revenue rolling in. The new law will make life even easier for union leaders, because they can count on dues revenue without having to be accountable to dues payers for the decisions they make.

We’re sure the unions will react to the new law by sending flowers and thank you cards to the so-called state leaders who pushed the bill.

We’ll react by reaching for the nearest vomit bag.