Right-to-Work Laws, Explained

[xchrom]

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/what-are-right-to-work-laws

On Wednesday the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a right-to-work law, returning the issue to Democratic Gov. John Lynch's desk for the second time in two years. The bane of organized labor for over half a century, right-to-work laws regained momentum in the United States after Republicans won historically sweeping victories on the state level in the 2010 midterm elections. In February, Indiana became the first state in a decade—and the first Rust Belt state—to enact one of the laws.

Jimmy Hoffa, the president of the Teamsters, has said that right-to-work proponents are waging a "war on workers," and Martin Luther King Jr. called right-to-work a "false slogan" and said the laws "rob us of our civil rights and job rights." But proponents of the laws believe they're necessary for the growth of manufacturing and business that can bolster states' weak economies. A lack of nationwide right-to-work legislation, they argue, has resulted in "abuses of workers' human rights and civil liberties."

So what is a right-to-work law, anyway?

The basics

No American worker can be forced to join a union. But most unions push companies to agree to contracts that require all workers, whether they're in the union or not, to pay dues to the union for negotiating with management. State right-to-work laws make these sorts of contracts illegal, meaning that workers in unionized businesses can benefit from the terms of a union contract without paying union dues. (Under federal law, unions must represent all workers covered by a contract, even if some of those workers are not members of the union and do not pay for the union's representation.)

Unions are fighting the expansion of these laws, which currently apply in 23 US states. A coalition of lawmakers, manufacturers, tea partiers, and big conservative think tanks want to see them passed in the rest of the US.

[leftyohiolib]

1. it's called the right-to-work-for-less it's a republican ideal. another reason to never votes for

these clowns. the governmnt forcing a business to give their services for free and from the smaller govrnmnt party. the people's stupidity has no boundries, like the people from ms. pelosi's film.

[d_r]

2. talk to me about

why it would be a bad idea to change the law that requires non-union members to be paid at the same rate as union-negotiated contracts? Why not let the union negotiate for their members and those who chose not to join the union fend for themselves? If the right wing is going to allow workers to not pay union dues, why let those who chose not to benefit from the union work they are not pitching in for?

[saras]

4. Unions negotiate safety conditions, not just wages.

[saras]

3. Starting from behind...

Martin Luther King Jr. called right-to-work a "false slogan"...

...yet that's what the law, the principle, and the OP, are labeled - by our side.
They won that round.

If they'll agree to my getting shares of the corporate stock just for allowing the corporation to exist, then maybe I'll think about letting freeloaders into the union contract. That wasn't such a brilliant Federal law either - makes me wonder if it was addressing some form of discrimination, or some other issue separate from the actual functioning of unions, or if it perhaps didn't have the same anti-union intent this law does.

[Igel]

5. Question

The few times I've had a job with anything like union representation were in right-to-work states.

In each case, union dues were completely voluntary.

In each case, though, an arbitration panel determined how much the union spent on contract negotiations and work-condition monitoring, whether salary compliance or working conditions. This included the union's supplies, office space, transportation, salaries, and benefits. Then the panel divided the union's net expenses by the number of employees covered by the contract and every contract employee paid the resulting amount.

Paying this amount wasn't optional. If you're covered by the contract--and if an employer has such a contract, you're going to have to sign or resign--you're required by state law to pay the costs of union representation. These were emphatically not dues.

Dues included money paid to the national or state union, to any education or strike fund, to organizing activities or political endeavors/activities.

My question is, Do most (or all, or just a very few) right-to-work states have laws requiring payment for representation services?