Wirehead Studios

Right-to-Work laws do not guarantee any rights, instead they inhibit the right to organize. Right-to-Work statutes prohibit employers and unions from voluntarily negotiating a union security agreement. A union security agreement requires employees who benefit from the union's representation to pay dues, sharing the costs of union negotiations, contract administration, and other union-provided job services.

Right-to-Work laws are deliberately designed to financially cripple the union movement. Right-to-Work laws are actually intended to discourage workers from joining a union or paying any dues, because those laws offer workers a deal that undermines worker solidarity-you don't have to pay dues, but you still get all the union services-for free. Federal law requires unions to represent nonmembers, so dues-paying union members are forced to subsidize union services for the "free riders." For example, if a nonunion worker is fired illegally, the union must finance the expensive legal proceedings to defend him or her.

Right-to-Work laws decrease wages for everyone. Because workers' organizing rights are diminished in states with Right-to-Work laws, an average worker earns about $4,830 a year less than workers in free bargaining states ($26,998 versus $31,829). On a weekly basis, workers in Right-to-Work states receive nearly $70 less than workers in free bargaining states ($545 versus $612). Clearly these laws only provide a Right-to-Work, for less.

By supressing union membership, Right-to-Work laws especially harm people of color. People of color generally benefit the most from union membership. On average, Hispanic union members earn 54.9 percent ($207) more each week than nonunion Hispanics, and African Americans earn 34.5 percent ($175) more each week if they are union members. For example, in two occupations filled predominantly by African Americans, protective services and machine operators, union members earn 56.5 percent and 40.9 percent more, respectively, than their nonunion counterparts.1

By holding down union membership, Right-to-Work harms women. Nationally, the gap between men's and women's pay is nearly 30.6 percent- but between all men and union women the gap is almost nonexistent, at 1.6 percent. Union women earn $144 more each week than nonunion women.2

Because state law holds down wages, Right-to-Work states consistently have higher poverty and infant mortality rates, less access to health care, and poorer schools. Right-to-Work states have a poverty rate of 13.5 percent, compared with 12.2 percent in free bargaining states. The infant mortality rate is 7.94 percent higher and the uninsured population rate is 15 percent higher on average in Right-to-Work states. And Right-to-Work states average $1,680 less in per pupil spending on elementary and secondary education. The lack of spending is reflected in lower teacher salaries, and student test scores (average teacher salaries are $6,943 lower and composite ACT scores are 3.55 percent lower in Right-to-Work states).

Right-to-Work laws endanger workers' physical security by reducing workers compensation benefits for on-the-job injuries. Workers compensation benefits in Right-to-Work states in 1996 were 50 percent less per employee than in free bargaining states. Moreover, more workplace deaths and injuries occur in states with Right-to-Work laws. According to calculations from Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the rate of workplace deaths is 41 percent higher in states with Right-to-Work laws.3

Higher union wages increase productivity and improve the state economy. When union workers earn higher wages, consumers have more money to spend, leading to more jobs and less unemployment. Studies show that unions increase productivity by encouraging new technology, labor management coordination, and increased training. To survive, nonunion competitors often increase their use of technology and train workers in new skills, making them eligible for higher wages. The ultimate beneficiary is the overall state economy.

Workers who don't want to join a union are already fully protected by federal law. Federal law provides that no worker can be forced to join a union, and nonunion workers cannot be forced to pay for union activities that violate their religious or political beliefs. If an employer and union enter into a voluntary union security contract, a covered worker simply has to share basic costs of representation. In sum, Right-to-Work does not grant worker rights; it takes them away.