Congress moves to weaken unions nationwide, making dues voluntary.

What it does

This bill eliminates the legal basis for union security agreements—contracts that require employees to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. It strikes the National Labor Relations Act provisions that currently permit such agreements, making union membership and dues payment entirely voluntary. The bill applies to both private-sector workers (NLRA) and railroad/airline employees (Railway Labor Act).

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is to eliminate the legal framework permitting union security agreements. This is functionally a deregulation of labor relations—it removes a rule that currently permits unions to enforce membership and dues collection. The title frames this as 'free choice,' but the substantive effect is to weaken unions' financial and organizational capacity.

What the text implies

• Unions may lose 20–40% of revenue from non-member dues, potentially reducing their capacity to fund organizing, legal defense, and contract negotiation.
• Workers who benefit from union contracts (wages, benefits, grievance procedures) may see those gains erode if unions cannot sustain representation without mandatory funding.
• Employers gain negotiating advantage: unions weakened by revenue loss and free-rider problem (workers enjoying union benefits without paying) may accept lower wage/benefit offers.
• Right-to-work states have historically shown lower union density and lower average wages in comparable sectors; this bill nationalizes that model.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Workers gain the right to refuse union membership without employment penalty—a genuine individual liberty. However, the bill eliminates unions' ability to fund themselves through mandatory dues, which may weaken collective bargaining power, reduce union capacity to negotiate wages/benefits, and shift power toward employers. The net effect on ordinary workers' wages, benefits, and workplace protections depends on whether voluntary-membership unions can sustain effective representation—a genuinely

Who stands to gain

• employers (reduced union bargaining power, lower labor costs)
• non-union workers who currently benefit from union contracts but would not pay dues (free-rider gain

Named in the bill

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), unions and labor organizations, railroad and airline employees (Railway Labor Act), private-sector employers

Where it stands

129 cosponsors: 129 Republicans.

• Feb 12, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 12, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

5 lobbying clients named this bill on 8 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Sep 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $2,794,944 in lobbying spend. A filing names 42 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.

Joe Wilson, the sponsor, reported $281,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Int'l Ass'n of Sheet Metal Air Rail & Transp Workers Transp Div — $1,188,640 on 3 filings
• American Trucking Associations — $720,000 on 1 filing
• International Association of Fire Fighters — $380,304 on 2 filings
• Air Line Pilots Association — $266,000 on 1 filing
• National Right to Work Committee — $240,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.