States’ wrongs
Unions fearing flood of right-to-work laws
Anational right-to-work bill has once again appeared in Congress — but unions fighting the legislation say the real threat is on the state level. Rep. Steve King (photo inset), a Republican from Iowa, brought the National Right to Work Act to the House of Representatives on Feb. 1.
The bill aims to let private-sector workers across the country opt out of paying union dues if they don’t want to be members.
Currently, in states that don’t have right-to-work laws, an employee can decline to join a workplace union — but they can’t avoid paying at least some dues if they work at a unionized facility.
That’s because unions are still required by law to represent all workers equally — even those that decline to officially sign up as members. Labor organizations have successfully argued for decades that they’re entitled to at least some dues if they have to cover the costs of protecting a nonunion member.
Since King brought his national legislation to Congress — where it awaits a committee hearing — Missouri became the 28th state to enact right-to-work legislation. It passed a right-to-work law Feb. 6.
Last week, New Hampshire narrowly missed becoming the 29th state. It rejected a right-to-work bill in a tense 200-to-177 vote in its House of Representatives.
The Teamsters, one of the nation’s largest unions, had launched a massive call to action ahead of the decision last Thursday.
“Our members and their families worked hard to send a message to the legislature that right to work is wrong for New Hampshire,” said Jeffrey Padellaro of Local 633, adding he was “thrilled” with the result.
Before Missouri flipped, a bitter battle was lost in Kentucky on Jan. 7. Kentucky Democrats were able to quash right-to-work laws for years because they controlled the state House of Representatives. But when the party lost its majority in November, the legislation flew through to land on the Republican governor’s desk — and he promptly signed it.
Twenty-eight states are now operating under right-to-work laws — a fact officials often tout when trying to lure companies to move to their areas.
Twenty-two states, including New York, have held off on the legislation. There is no immediate concern among labor leaders that the Empire State is in danger of change. Groups that are pro-right to work often point out that such legislation frees workers from “forced fees” and allows managers to pay wellperforming employees higher wages than less skilled workers.
According to the AFL-CIO, the average worker in a right-to-work state makes $6,109 less a year than employees in what the union federation calls a “free bargaining state.”
Right-to-work states also have a 13% rate of uninsured employees versus 9.4% in other states, the AFL-CIO said.