Are You in A Right to Work State? 

Right to Work laws may also be called “open shop” laws. Currently, there are twenty-one Right to Work States, which are located in the table below.

In Right to Work states, workers enjoy all the benefits the Union negotiates on their behalf, but workers are not required to belong to the Union or pay their fair share of the costs involved in keeping it running. Operating in a Right to Work state does not diminish the Union’s right to organize or the right to bargain contracts. On the contrary, it is more important than ever in these locations that the Union obtain signed collective bargaining agreements with all of its employers.

These contracts may recognize the Union’s hiring hall as the sole and exclusive source of needed workers. It is not illegal to have an exclusive hiring hall in a Right to Work state. Some employers may claim that an exclusive hiring hall, in which all employees are referred to jobs through the Union, is a form of Union Security. It is not. An exclusive hiring hall has to serve everyone, whether a Union member or not. Since hiring halls are not a form of Union Security, they cannot be prohibited or regulated in Right to Work states.

Likewise, dues check-off provisions, a system of dues collection in which the employer agrees to deduct union dues and representation fees from members’ paychecks and forward the money directly to the union are legal in Right to Work states, provided that the employer agrees, and that money is deducted only for those employees who have signed a form, authorizing said deduction. Of course, many other contractual provisions, which are permitted across the country, are also permitted in Right to Work states.

This includes grievance and arbitration provisions for the purpose of dispute resolution. Operating in a state with Right to Work laws presents an additional challenge to Local Unions, but this challenge is not insurmountable. While workers in such states cannot be obligated by Union Security clauses to join the union, people join organizations when they believe they will be better off for it. According to David Prosten in The Union Steward’s Complete Guide, in survey after survey, union members in open shops say they joined because someone they knew approached them. And nonmembers say the leading reason they don’t join is because no one ever directly asks them to. There is strength in numbers. You will never get the nonmembers to join unless you ask them to do so—oneon- one.

Armed with the facts and with good legal advice a strong contract and a healthy union are possible. Local Union officers should check with a qualified Labor attorney in their locale for the most correct and current information for your local. Negotiating assistance may also be available from the IATSE General office.

RIGHT TO WORK STATES

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Iowa

Kansas

Louisiana

Mississippi

Nebraska

Nevada

North Carolina

North Dakota

Oklahoma

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Wyoming

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