What does “right to work” mean?
These are new rules adopted
by the states that require unions to operate under the
"open shop" rule, which means:
-
An employee cannot be compelled to join or
pay the equivalent of dues to a union
-
The employee
be fired if he joins the union.
- Union dues cannot be taken out of an employee’s paycheck
without written consent of the employee. The employee may
stop it at any time.
Prior to 1947 unions organized and operate
under the National
Labor Relations Act. Before the act was
amended by the The Taft-Hartley Act of
1947 and subsequent legislation,
unions were allowed to force employees into becoming
members as a condition of employment. They
operated under what was called a “closed shop”.
Not only were employees required to become members, but,
the unions also did the hiring. They told the
employer who they could or could not hire.
When “closed shop” became illegal under the
Thaft-Hartley Act of 1947 unions moved to a new practice
called “union shop”. With this practice unions did not
force employees to join the union as a requirement to be
hired but they required new employees to join the union
within a specified period of time.
Why the push to change? Unions were increasingly being perceived by
many in business as an impediment to growth. Employers
complained that unions resist when it was necessary to
achieve efficiencies and remain competitive by reduce their
workforce and implement new technologies (automation). Over
many years anti-union advocacy groups campaign for what they
call “right to work” laws. Today there are a total of
27
states that have “right to work” laws. These
states are listed below.
The Federal Government operates under open
shop rules nationwide, though many of its employees are
represented by unions.
Those opposed to the “right to work” laws
contend that it is unfair for employees to benefit from
being bound by the terms of union contracts even though they
are not required to pay dues. They also believe that lower
wages and bad working conditions will be result from the
lack of union existence. This has not been proven to
be true. Right-to-work states have to comply with the
same workplace safety rules as non-right-to-work states.
Should you consider starting or moving your
business to a "right to work" state?
Consider this: In a study done by Larry Gigerich – Managing
Director of Ginevus, “right to work states create more
private sector jobs, enjoy lower poverty rates, experience
more technology development, realize more personal income
growth, and increase the number of people covered by
employment-based private health insurance.” He went on to
state that “companies will not even consider non-right to
work states for new facilities, out of concern for how their
operations will be affected.”