Right-to-work law

Right-to-work laws are statutes in 28 U.S. states that prohibit union security agreements. Under these laws employees in unionized workplaces may not be compelled to join a union, nor compelled to pay for any part of the cost of union representation.

According to the Legal Defense Foundation, right to work laws prohibit union security agreements, or agreements between employers and labor unions, that govern the extent to which an established union can require employees' membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment, either before or after hiring. Right-to-work laws do not aim to provide general guarantee of employment to people seeking work, but rather are a government regulation of the contractual agreements between employers and labor unions that prevents them from excluding non-union workers, or requiring employees to pay a fee to unions that have negotiated the labor contract all the employees work under.

Unions are already governed by regulations and laws, including public policy on labor-management relations (e.g., a university central office professional position on labor relations.) Typically, unions are organized by industry (e.g., healthcare, restaurant, steel workers, teachers, state government- professional, non-professional), and they are required to be voted in by employees and "management" with provisions on dues payments required as of 2011. For example, while municipal employees have their unions, as do police and firefighters, other non-profit agencies in localities may not be offered these same protections.

Right-to-work provisions (either by law or by constitutional provision) exist in 28 U.S. states, mostly in the southern and western United States, but also including the Midwestern states of Michigan,Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Business interests represented by the United States Chamber of Commerce have lobbied extensively to pass right-to-work legislation. Such laws are allowed under the 1947 federal Taft–Hartley Act. A further distinction is often made within the law between those persons employed by state and municipal governments and those employed by the private sector with states that are otherwise union shop (i.e., workers must pay for union representation in order to obtain or retain a job) having right to work laws in effect for government employees; provided, however, that the law also permits an "agency shop" where employees pay their share for representation (less than union dues), while not joining the union as members.

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