Considerations Of Right To Work Law

In my opinion: Right to work decisions should be made by the workers themselves. Employers, politicians and non involved voters should not have a voice in what is basically a matter of worker choice in compensation for their investment of labor capital. An equivalent situation would be for the voters of a state to vote on the methods of compensation and working conditions for the managers of money capital.

Contract negotiation is the time and place for both sides to work out differences and not the public ballot box. If workers choose by majority vote to organize, then that majority can make the rules covering membership, that’s the democratic method. Rules that includes the obligation to pay dues in order to receive the benefits of the negotiated contract seems to be a reasonable concept. If the majority of workers decide not to have union representation then the employer need not worry.

Paul Hunter
Union Shop explained: (extracted from various internet sources)

What is Union Shop? In the United States, a union shop is a negotiated union security clause between unions and private sector employers. Under a union shop clause the private sector employer may hire either labor union members or nonmembers but all employees must become union members within a specified period of time.

Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the union and employer may negotiate an agency shop agreement, which does not require workers to join a union but to pay equivalent union dues. By law, labor unions are required to negotiate for and defend the rights of all workers in the bargaining unit, whether they are members or not. This obligation is known as the duty of fair representation. In addition, a check-off agreement, in which an employee authorizes the employer to deduct union dues from his or her paycheck, is common practice.

Ohio is one of 28 states that is a union shop state. In 1947 Congress overrode a presidential veto and amended the NLRA to allow states to prohibit employers and unions from negotiating union shop clauses. Some states have adopted this anti-union measure, which is commonly referred to as “right to work.” Right to work law requires the union to represent the worker but does not require the worker to join the union or pay his or her fair share of dues. In 1958, Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected a business led state ballot initiative to make Ohio a right to work state.