Right-to-work law

{{uspolitics}}
{{cquote|It is a good time for organized labour to gather an army.|||''Canadian Business''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131230093058/https://www2.macleans.ca/2013/09/17/right-to-work-legislation-just-isnt-worth-it/ Right-to-work legislation isn’t worth it] by James Cowan (September 17, 2013 10:13am) ''Maclean's'' (archived from December 30, 2013).</ref>}}
'''Right-to-work laws''' (called also '''"right-to-work-for-less laws"''') are not, [[Orwellian|as the name might suggest]], laws that guarantee that {{sl|Not to be confused with…|citizens have a right to be gainfully employed}} (that would be [[Command economy|another]] [[Communism|system]] [[Soviet Union|altogether]]{{efn|Not that the old [[Eastern Bloc]] was anything like the [[Hypocrisy|"workers' paradise"]] [[Utopia|presented]] in its [[propaganda]] either. Even after the end of [[Joseph Stalin|Uncle Joe's]] forced industrialization one wag described the system as one in which "the state pretends to pay us and we pretend to work".}}). Rather, they are laws that forbid [[trade union|union]]s from doing things like requiring represented workers to pay any kind of dues. This means that workers are legally free to hold employment without paying a red cent to the union that represents them. It is highly debatable whether this [[freedom]] is of any practical use to workers.

==Origins==
"Right-to-work" laws are derived from legislation forbidding unions from forcing [[strike]]s on workers, as well as from legal principles such as "liberty of contract", which as applied here sought to prevent passage of laws regulating workplace conditions.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/12/right_to_work_laws_why_do_union_busters_use_the_orwellian_phrase_right_to.html Why Are Anti-Union Laws Called “Right To Work”?] by Brian Palmer (Dec 12, 20124:51 PM) ''Slate''.</ref>

The term itself was coined by one Vance Muse {{lived|1890|1950}}, a [[Republican Party|Republican]] operative who headed an early "right-to-work" group, the "Christian American Association", to replace the term '''"American Plan"''' after it became associated with the anti-union violence of the First [[Red Scare]].<ref name="pando">[https://web.archive.org/web/20210117222129/https://pando.com/2015/03/13/as-right-to-work-becomes-law-in-wisconsin-a-reminder-of-its-inventors-racist-past/ As "Right To Work" becomes law in Wisconsin, a reminder of its inventor's racist past] by Mark Ames (March 13, 2015) ''Pando, Not Safe For Work Corporation'' (archived from January 17, 2021).</ref><ref name="nsfwcorp">[https://web.archive.org/web/20210208171555/https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/right-to-work/ You Hate "Right To Work" Laws More Than You Know. Here's Why] by Mark Ames (10:41 a.m. December 12, 2012) ''Pando, Not Safe For Work Corporation'' (archived from February 8, 2021).</ref> Muse used [[racist]] [[rhetoric]] when he campaigned for these laws, such as when he said:

{{cquote|From now on, white women and white men will be forced into organizations with black [[Black brute|African apes]] whom they will have to call ‘brother’ or lose their jobs.<ref name="pando"/><ref name="nsfwcorp"/>}}

Other stuff Vance Muse did: fought against [[women's suffrage]], a [[child labor]] Constitutional amendment, the 8-hour work day and Felix Frankfurter (a [[Jew]]) as a [[Supreme Court]] justice, while launching the very first steps towards the [[Southern Strategy]].<ref name="pando"/><ref name="nsfwcorp"/> His "Christian American Association" was also [[Antisemitism|anti-semitic]] as well as [[anti-Catholic]].<ref name="pando"/><ref name="nsfwcorp"/>

==Prevalence==
[[File:Right to Work states.svg|thumb|right|300px|Map of all the right-to-work states as of 2023. [[Delaware]] is not a right-to-work state, but the city of Seaford has a right-to-work ordinance.<ref>[https://www.wboc.com/archive/city-of-seaford-formally-announces-right-to-work-ordinance/article_687388d0-520b-561a-9a79-d0ec81e63b6c.html City of Seaford Formally Announces "Right to Work" Ordinance], Madeleine Overturf, ''WBOC'' 16 January 2018</ref> [[Ohio]] has a limited right-to-work law where employees can opt out of a union but still have to pay a small fee.<ref>[https://www.findlaw.com/state/ohio-law/ohio-right-to-work-laws.html Ohio Right to Work Laws], ''FindLaw''</ref>]]
Strictly speaking, right-to-work laws exist only in the [[United States]]. The [[Taft-Hartley Act]] of 1947 banned "closed shops" where workers ''must'' be members of the union that represents them. The Act also gave states the option to ban "agency shops," where workers do not have to be members but must pay a "fair share" fee to the union to cover the cost of representing them.

Right-to-work laws exist mostly in [[red state]]s. The exact number of states with right-to-work laws vary depending on who's counting. According to the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, 26 states and the U.S. territory of [[Guam]] have adopted right-to-work laws.<ref>[http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/right-to-work-laws-and-bills.aspx Right-to-Work Resources] ''National Conference of State Legislatures''.</ref> The first to adopt such laws was [[Florida]] in 1943. Conversely, there are currently four states that have a constitutional right to collective bargaining, those being [[Hawaii]], [[New York]], [[Missouri]], and most recently [[Illinois]].<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/voters-illinois-tennessee-approve-dueling-measures-union-membership-2022-11-09/ Voters in Illinois, Tennessee approve dueling measures on union membership], Daniel Wiessner, ''Reuters'' 9 November 2022</ref>

Today, of the former 17 [[Jim Crow]] states, 14 are right-to-work states, while 11 of them have the lowest American unionization rates and 5 of these also ban collective bargaining with public employees.<ref>[http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/the-ugly-racial-history-of-right-to-work The Ugly Racial History of “Right to Work”] by Richard D. Kahlenberg & Moshe Z. Marvit (December 20, 2012) ''Dissent Magazine''. ([https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/west-virginia-supreme-court-upholds-right-to-work-law.aspx West Virginia] and [https://www.kychamber.com/issues/2019-priorities/rtw Kentucky] became right-to-work states after this article was published.)</ref>

States that adopt these laws tend to have lower average wages, and higher [[poverty]] rates. In addition, they often have fewer employment benefits.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120615012814/http://www.aflcio.org/Legislation-and-Politics/State-Legislative-Battles/Ongoing-State-Legislative-Attacks/Right-to-Work-for-Less 'Right to Work' for Less] ''AFL-CIO'' (archived from June 15, 2012).</ref>

While the term "right-to-work" is not really used in [[Europe]], at least not in the American sense, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it is a violation of [[human rights]] to force employees to join a union;<ref>[http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2006/01/feature/dk0601104f.htm ECHR rules against Danish closed-shop agreements] by Carsten Jørgensen (30 January 2006) ''Eurofound''.</ref> so, strictly speaking, one might say that all European nations are "right-to-work" states.

==Arguments in favor==
As many countries, including the United States, have legislated bans on so called "yellow-dog contracts" (contracts that workers must sign, as a condition of employment, prohibiting the worker from joining a union), right-to-work laws are considered by some proponents to create a "balance" by banning agency shops. In other words, if the law gives workers the right to force their employer to finance a union through their paycheck, it seems only fair that it should also give them the right ''not'' to do this.

This, however, is an instance of the [[balance fallacy]], as it does not take into account that it is much easier for an employer to force a yellow-dog contract on a worker than it is for the worker to force union recognition on an employer.

==Criticism==
Though they do not prohibit any worker from joining an existing union or any workforce from unionizing by secret-ballot election in accordance with state and federal labor laws, a common criticism of these laws is that their ultimate purpose is to strip unions of their bargaining power by removing their ability to operate as a [[collective]] representation of their entire workforce.

There is also the issue of the unions' ''[[political]]'' power. The openly stated motivation for many right-to-work laws is to stop workers being forced to subsidize unions' political contributions, whether through union dues or "fair share" payments. If unions disproportionately support a particular party (''e.g.'', the U.S.'s [[Democratic Party]]), that creates an incentive for [[Republican Party|other parties]] to bring in right-to-work laws by way of socking their opponents in the pocketbook.

==Key supporters==
The main organizations supporting right-to-work are the National Right to Work Committee and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The former is a [[conservative]] [[lobbying]] group, while the latter defends right-to-work laws in court; both are funded through [[Kochtopus|donations]].<ref>[https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/03/energy-industry-trade-groups/ Koch-Connected Group Shows Holes in Disclosure Requirements] by Viveca Novak and Robert Maguire (March 5, 2012 5:08 pm) ''Open Secrets''.</ref><ref>[http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Right_to_Work_Legal_Defense_Foundation#Funding National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation: Funding] ''Source Watch''.</ref>

==Not to be confused with…==
The [[United Nations]] (U.N.) actually recognizes something called the "right to work". However, the U.N.'s definition is much less Orwellian and actually has to do with the right to have a job, as part of Article 23 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]:

{{Cquote|Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.<ref>[http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=eng Text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights] ''The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights''.</ref>}}

Note also that part of the same article of said Declaration also says, "Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests", which makes it in effect a ''pro-union'' document, the opposite effect of "right-to-work" laws (though not in ''direct'' contradiction thereto).

In his [[Second Bill of Rights]] speech, [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] called it "The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation".

This right is also recognised in article 6, paragraph 1 of the UN's International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights:

{{Cquote|The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.<ref>[http://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Economic,_Social_and_Cultural_Rights International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights] (1966) ''Wikisource''.</ref>}}

This document also protects the right to freely form and join trade unions in its article 8.

In the sense of this section, the term "right to work" was [[irony|coined by]] [[France|French]] [[socialism|socialist]] Louis Blanc after the financial crisis of 1846, which led to the French Revolution of 1848.<ref>''Revolutions of 1848: A Social History'' by Priscilla Robertson (1952) Princeton University Press.</ref>

This "right to work" is guaranteed by full employment programs.

==Repeal==
Michigan, whose right-to-work law came into effect in 2013, in 2024 became the first US state to repeal such a law.<ref>[https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/michigans-right-to-work-repeal-takes-effect-tuesday/ Michigan’s right-to-work repeal takes effect] by Byron Tollefson (Updated: Feb 13, 2024 / 10:17 AM EST) ''WoodTV.com''.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Supply-side economics]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Conservative deceit]]
[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Euphemisms]]
[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:United States law]]

Categories: Conservative deceit, Economics, Euphemisms, Human rights, Misnomers, United States law