MEMORANDUM
Date: March 19, 2023
RE: The United States Should Repeal Right-to-Work Laws
Executive Summary:
Right-to-work laws are detrimental to collective bargaining by requiring dues to be optional, diminishing the power of unions. Consequently, right-to-work laws undermine workplace safety, healthcare coverage, and lower wages. Thus, we urge the ratification of the H.R.842 Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021 (PRO Act), repealing right-to-work laws from all 26 states currently enacting these laws, and strengthening modern labor laws such as increased minimum wage.
Background:
The history of right-to-work laws can be traced back to the 1940s, when the Taft-Hartley Act was passed in the United States. The Taft-Hartley Act amended the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935, which had given workers the right to join unions and collectively bargain with employers. Under right-to-work laws, states have the authority to determine whether workers can be required to join a labor union as a condition of employment. Though the name “right-to-work” may sound like a human right to guaranteed employment, it is more about undermining unions by stipulating that employees in unionized workplaces are not required to pay for union representation even if they receive the benefits that due paying members enjoy. As of 2023, 26 states in the United States have right-to-work laws in place. In these states, it is up to each employee at a workplace to decide whether or not to join the union and pay dues, even though all workers are protected by the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the union. (National Labor Relations Board) However, in March, Michigan became the first state to repeal right-to-work laws in 58 years, once again establishing Michigan as a leading state in worker’s rights. In tandem, other pro-labor reforms are making their way through the legislature, including reinstating prevailing wage (Stebbins).
Key Findings:
The NLRA was established to protect workplace democracy by ensuring that workers had the full freedom to engage in collective bargaining. It is considered the foundational statute of US labor law because it guaranteed the right of private sector employees to organize into unions. (National Labor Relations Board)
Advocates of right-to-work laws claim that these laws ensure that no one is forced to be a member of a union, but this is already illegal under federal law. All right-to-work laws do is target fair share fees, which require employees who receive the benefits of collective bargaining to pay their share of enforcement costs. By making it harder for unions to collect these fees, right-to-work laws starve unions of resources, impeding their ability to negotiate and organize. (Cooper) In fact, right-to-work laws are associated with a drop of about 4 percentage points in unionization rates, with a difference of nearly 20 percent in the unionization rate between states with and without right-to-work laws. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
If employees individually bargained with their employers, they would have no leverage in the negotiation process, since individual employees can be replaced at relatively low cost to the employer. In contrast, unions utilize the power behind the collective to secure meaningful improvements for workers. Labor unions are largely responsible for historical efforts to stop child labor, secure higher wages, provide benefits to retired or injured workers, and shorten the workday. (History) Collective bargaining, referring to the negotiation of employment terms between an employer and a group of workers, is the panacea for many worker ills, as unions aim to improve the pay, benefits, and working conditions of the workers in that particular industry or company. (Kenton)
Even after controlling for worker characteristics and state labor market conditions, wages in right-to-work states are 3.2 percent lower on average than wages in non-right-to-work states. (Gould) Similarly, unionized workers are 18.3% more likely to receive employer-sponsored health insurance, and employers pay 77.4% more per hour worked toward the cost of health insurance for unionized workers compared with non-unionized workers. (Sainato) Additionally, unions lobby for better working conditions, which is why right-to-work laws led to a 14.2 percent increase in occupational mortality through decreased unionization. (Ishn)
Thus, the nationwide annulment of right-to-work laws will once again calcify workers’ rights and rejuvenate our workforce.
Recommendations:
To ensure the best outcomes for American workers we recommend the following:
- H.R.842 Passing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021: This would nullify the effects of right-to-work laws by forcing people who benefit from unions to pay union dues.
- Enacting more modern labor laws: Most of the current labor laws are from the 1930’s to 1940’s. More modern labor laws would adjust to today's working conditions (minimum wage, etc).
- Repeal right-to-work: Under right-to-work laws employers have less of an incentive to put employees first. Abolishing right-to-work would force employers to prioritize the worker, meaning that they would focus more on improving conditions for their employees. Once you repeal right-to-work you see these workers being allowed to unionize, and allowed to collectively bargain for deserved benefits.
Conclusions:
In conclusion, collective bargaining is the only way that workers can obtain benefits. When you have collective bargaining the workers have the power to advocate for better benefits like wages or healthcare. Absent collective bargaining the individual worker is unable to obtain these benefits leaving them susceptible to the will of the employers. Right-to-work laws disproportionately harm the lives of American workers. Right-to-work laws are a direct cause of the decrease in unions. Historically, labor unions have been responsible for a lot of the labor reforms in this country. When you take away the labor unions you directly halt any chance for labor reforms as well. The only thing you see happening in right-to-work is the violation of basic human rights. That’s why it is absolutely essential that we repeal right-to-work.
Works Cited:
National Conference of State Legislatures, 1-9-2023, "Right-to-Work Resources," https://www.ncsl.org/labor-and-employment/right-to-work-resources, accessed 3-19-2023
Adam Hayes, 11-24-2022, "What Is the Taft-Hartley Act?," Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tafthartleyact.asp, accessed 3-19-2023
National Labor Relations Board, "Employer/Union Rights and Obligations," https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/employer-union-rights-and-obligations, accessed 3-19-2023
National Labor Relations Board, "National Labor Relations Act," https://www.nlrb.gov/guidance/key-reference-materials/national-labor-relations-act, accessed 3-19-2023
Will Kenton, 2-14-2023, "Collective Bargaining," Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/collective-bargaining.asp, accessed 3-19-2023
History, 10-29-2009, "Labor Movement," HISTORY, https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/labor, accessed 3-19-2023
NBER, 2022, Impacts of Right-to-Work Laws on Unionization and Wages, https://www.nber.org/digest/202208/impacts-right-work-laws-unionization-and-wages, accessed 3-19-2023
David Cooper, 2-25-2021, "So-called right-to-work is wrong for Montana: Research shows RTW law would not boost jobs and could lower wages for both union and nonunion workers," Economic Policy Institute, https://www.epi.org/publication/so-called-right-to-work-is-wrong-for-montana/, accessed 3-19-2023
Gould and Kimball, “Right-to-Work” States still have lower wages, https://www.epi.org/publication/right-to-work-states-have-lower-wages/, accessed 3-19-2023
Sainato, Michael. “Feel the benefit: union workers receive far better pay and rights, Congress finds.” The Guardian. August 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/usnews/2022/jun/10/us-union-workers-report-congress, accessed 3-19-2023
Ishn, 10-09-2018, "Study: Right-to-Work laws harm workplace safety," https://www.ishn.com/articles/109511-study-right-to-work-laws-harm-workplace-safety, accessed 3-19-2023
Laina G. Stebbins, 11-17-2022, "Right to Work repeal will make Michigan a leading state for workers’ rights again, unions say ⋆ Michigan Advance," Michigan Advance, https://michiganadvance.com/2023/03/21/right-to-work-repeal-will-make-michigan-a-leading-state-for-workers-rights-again-unions-say/, accessed 4-2-2023
