In the context of labor law in the United States, the term right-to-work laws refers to state laws that prohibit union security agreements between employers and labor unions.
And I still don’t know what right-to-work laws are.
They prevent you from having to join a union to work at a company. And you don’t have to pay dues either.
You can effectively benefit from the unions bargaining without supporting the union - which if enough people do that kills the union (the goal of the law).
Unions typically have an agreement where employees don’t have to join the union but they still have to pay a fee equivalent to union dues, and the employer can’t pay non-members more than union members, or other similar restrictions.
The idea is to remove the ability for the employer to offer an advantage to non-members.
TLDR it’s an essential part of making a functional union.
Right to Work means you can have a union job but not join the union. You have the right to”right to work” without being a union member or paying any union dues. Generally it means you get all the benefits without contributing but also unions are usually a lot weaker since so many people opt out, so also the benefits are lesser. Because it is governed by state-level laws, details vary from state to state.
right to work means you can have a job in a union shop without joining the union.
My grandpa was a snow plow driver for the state of MN (retired sometimes in the 1990s), but as a republican was always opposed to the union. He still paid union dues, but they were reduced and kept in a separate fund by the union and only used for contract negotiations (important for him - he was a big republican and the union political funds of course donates to democrats). Since he wasn’t a member of the union he couldn’t vote on union leadership, but the leadership called him one of their best people there because he always attended the union meetings where contacts were discussed. As you can start to see not being a union member when there is a union is really complex weird. I’m sure there is more about this that I don’t know about (one obvious thing - what if they voted to go on strike)
I’m a union organizer, and by coincidence I live in MN, so this is my bread and butter.
You pretty much nailed it, with the only exception that right-to-work laws allow everyone in the workplace, even members, to avoid paying dues entirely. As the map shows, MN is not one of those states though. We have different terms in organizing circles. We call states with right-to-work “free rider” states, and those without are called “fair share” shares.
Every union decides how they want to handle nonmembers outside of their legal obligations. My union is CWA, we don’t allow nonmembers to have any say at all on union matters. This means no input on the bargaining survey, no bargaining update emails, no electing the executive board, no voting on the contract, no participation in committees, no admittance to most meetings, etc.
one obvious thing - what if they voted to go on strike
In both cases, regardless of free rider laws, nonmembers are not entitled to the strike fund. The dues equivalency your grandpa paid excluded the few cents for the strike fund and a few other union governance things like that. However, they can still participate in the strike.
Hopefully, I’m not wrong, but basically unions typically require Members Pay dues out of income. Right to work essentially forbid that practice making do payments optional. Which drives down the union revenue
And how organizers make up cutesie names to name their treehouse clubs after.
Oathkeepers. Truthers. 1776’ers. American Freedom Party. Patriot Front. It just goes on and on. All of them bullshit, all of them are blanketed bigots, racists .etc bastardizing the names with what they think ‘freedom’ is all about.
A quick Google search:
And I still don’t know what right-to-work laws are.
“Right to Work” simply means “Anti-Union”.
They prevent you from having to join a union to work at a company. And you don’t have to pay dues either.
You can effectively benefit from the unions bargaining without supporting the union - which if enough people do that kills the union (the goal of the law).
Unions typically have an agreement where employees don’t have to join the union but they still have to pay a fee equivalent to union dues, and the employer can’t pay non-members more than union members, or other similar restrictions.
The idea is to remove the ability for the employer to offer an advantage to non-members.
TLDR it’s an essential part of making a functional union.
Right to Work means you can have a union job but not join the union. You have the right to”right to work” without being a union member or paying any union dues. Generally it means you get all the benefits without contributing but also unions are usually a lot weaker since so many people opt out, so also the benefits are lesser. Because it is governed by state-level laws, details vary from state to state.
right to work means you can have a job in a union shop without joining the union.
My grandpa was a snow plow driver for the state of MN (retired sometimes in the 1990s), but as a republican was always opposed to the union. He still paid union dues, but they were reduced and kept in a separate fund by the union and only used for contract negotiations (important for him - he was a big republican and the union political funds of course donates to democrats). Since he wasn’t a member of the union he couldn’t vote on union leadership, but the leadership called him one of their best people there because he always attended the union meetings where contacts were discussed. As you can start to see not being a union member when there is a union is really complex weird. I’m sure there is more about this that I don’t know about (one obvious thing - what if they voted to go on strike)
I’m a union organizer, and by coincidence I live in MN, so this is my bread and butter.
You pretty much nailed it, with the only exception that right-to-work laws allow everyone in the workplace, even members, to avoid paying dues entirely. As the map shows, MN is not one of those states though. We have different terms in organizing circles. We call states with right-to-work “free rider” states, and those without are called “fair share” shares.
Every union decides how they want to handle nonmembers outside of their legal obligations. My union is CWA, we don’t allow nonmembers to have any say at all on union matters. This means no input on the bargaining survey, no bargaining update emails, no electing the executive board, no voting on the contract, no participation in committees, no admittance to most meetings, etc.
In both cases, regardless of free rider laws, nonmembers are not entitled to the strike fund. The dues equivalency your grandpa paid excluded the few cents for the strike fund and a few other union governance things like that. However, they can still participate in the strike.
That’s great insight from someone on the ground with type of stuff. Do you think the GOP is gonna attempt to do it Federally again?
Hopefully, I’m not wrong, but basically unions typically require Members Pay dues out of income. Right to work essentially forbid that practice making do payments optional. Which drives down the union revenue
Is it in Colorado? If it is, it’s a good thing. If not, it’s a bad thing. Right to work is a bad thing.
Right to work is: A right to be fired at any point for any reason or no reason at all
The goal is to get around any union protections that require things like a legitimate reason to be fired from a job.
It also has the added bonus of drastically reducing the benefits of unions and making them much easier to prevent.
No union I’ve ever been part of required me being in it in order to work at a place. It was always optional. So strange.
I mix these two up as well - thanks for the clarification.
The way I try to remember it is that it comes from the employers perspective:
You’re conflating “at will employment” with “right to work” laws.
You’re right. I updated the comment
Being fired for any or no reason is at will employment.
Right to work has nothing to do with that. It’s about allowing people to not pay union dues. Those people are still protected by the union contract.
You’re right. I updated the comment
I love how we name laws that really mean the exact opposite of what their name implies. Very american.
And how organizers make up cutesie names to name their treehouse clubs after.
Oathkeepers. Truthers. 1776’ers. American Freedom Party. Patriot Front. It just goes on and on. All of them bullshit, all of them are blanketed bigots, racists .etc bastardizing the names with what they think ‘freedom’ is all about.
Very human. Democratic Republic of Korea…Congo…lol.
“Truth Social”
Land of the free