Right To Work States

Introduction

Right-to-Work laws exist in more than half of U.S. states. A Right-to-Work law protects workers from being automatically compelled to join a union and pay union dues. Whereas a Worker Union helps secure good wages and safe workplace conditions, Right-to-Work laws give employees the choice to opt out of what would be an otherwise compulsory unionized job. Essentially, Right-to-Work laws protect a worker’s freedom of choice. 

Specifically, these laws protect individual workers from having to participate in collective actions, such as organizing a labor union or being represented by a union. The reason why Right-to-Work has been adopted by law in some places is that in states without Right-to-Work laws in place, workers applying for a job where the employees are unionized are required to join their labor union as a requirement of being hired. 

An employee might not want to join a union for a number of reasons. If the employee values the freedom to negotiate what they’re paid on their own behalf, they may not desire to join a union functioning in their workplace. If they joined, the union would negotiate their wage for them and, in some limited scenarios, it could potentially cost them their job. For example, if a union negotiates for a higher wage successfully, a business may terminate a number of employees to account for the rise in the cost of payroll. 

To learn more about right-to-work laws, scroll the data in the charts.