Right to work
A right to work law is an American provision enacted by a state under Section 14(b) of the federal Taft-Hartley Act prohibiting collective bargaining agreements from establishing a "closed shop" where all employees must belong to a union. The provision may in some cases be written into the state's constitution.
These laws generally permit an "agency shop" where employees who benefit from a collective bargaining agreement must pay a fair share of negotiating that contract.
"A Right to Work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. ... The National Right to Work Committee advocates that every individual must have the right, but must not be compelled, to join a labor union."[1]
As of 2017, 28 states, including the U.S. territory of Guam, have right to work laws.[1][2] Since 2012, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Kentucky[3] and Missouri[4] enacted right to work laws.[5] The majority of the states with such provisions are in the Southern and Western United States, where labor unions have historically been weak.
According to a 2017 study commissioned by National Employee Freedom Week and carried out by adjunct professor Lloyd Corder at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, union workers in right-to-work states and non-right-to-work states expressed equal levels of satisfaction with their unions, with workers in right-to-work states expressing slightly greater satisfaction in some cases.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Right to Work States: Do you work in a Right to Work state?. National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ↑ Right to Work Laws. National Conference of State Legislators. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ↑ "Joining half the nation, Kentucky approves highly debated ‘right to work’ law", Christian Science Monitor, January 8, 2017. Retrieved on January 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Gov. Eric Greitens signs Missouri right-to-work bill, but unions file referendum to overturn it", Kansas City Star. Retrieved on February 6, 2017.
- ↑ State Right To Work Timeline. National Right to Work Comittee. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ↑ Higgins, Sean (August 21, 2017). Union workers satisfied in right-to-work states: Study. Washington Examiner. Retrieved August 21, 2017.