Right to work states vs. non-right to work states

louloubell1 · Jan 11, 2003

I just read an article that mentioned right to work states, but I honestly don't know exactly what that means. I'm curious about the responses that you'll get because I'd really like to know too. Part of what I got from the article was that wages were generally lower for most jobs in right to work states, but I'm not sure if that's right.

Lou

Couch arrest day 8

sjoe · Jan 11, 2003

In a "right to work" state, you do NOT have to join a union to work in ANY facility in that state. (In other words, you have the "right to work," regardless of whether you choose to join a union. Usually, what would otherwise be union dues ARE still deducted from your paycheck, but usually go to some kind of charity instead of to the union. You get all the benefits that union members have fought for, but don't need to join yourself. This, understandably, can create certain tensions between yourself and union members.

In other states, you Do have to join the union, if the facility is a "closed shop," (an all-union facility or all-union job category at that facility--like, for example, all the RNs at a certain hospital have to belong to a certain union).

BMS4 · Jan 11, 2003

Is there a list somewhere of which states are right-to-work and which are not?

BadBird, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2003

In a right to work state you can be fired for no reason at all, no union to protect the workers rights.

szccdw · Jan 11, 2003

I typed in right to work states in my computer and got the information as to what states are right to work states

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2003

I'm certainly not the expert on this, but I've been in a "right to work" state for quite a while. I think that states that are NOT right to work you either have to join a union if there is one where you work, or you have to pay them dues whether you agree with them, have problems with their leadership or whatever.

Tennessee is a right to work state, and you are not required to join a union or pay dues to the union if you go to work where there is a union. But if you work where there is a union, you certainly have the right to join it. I've never been in a union myself. I can see advantages to it, but I've got some "issues" with both unions that were attempting to unionize two separate places I've worked. I thought that my friend who was disabled after a work injury would have been treated better if whe'd been unionized. But people I've met disabled at some factories with unions say that's not necessarily so. I guess it depends almost as much on the union locally (attitudes, etc.) as it does on the union as a whole.

I don't know if the right to fire goes hand in hand with the right to work, but I'd have to suspect that it does. Of course, if you're fired for or in a way that breaks fed laws and regulations, then that's different. So "they" can fire you if they don't like the color of your hair, but they can't fire you for using FMLA.

Isn't it funny? Here was a perfect opportunity for me to admit that my lack of specific information is a perfectly good basis for NOT offering my opinion. But noooooo.....

Love

Dennie

P_RN, ADN, RN · Jan 11, 2003

http://www.nrtw.org/rtws.htm

Choose your state and the statutes come up.

Totone656 · Jan 11, 2003

Originally posted by NurseDennie
I don't know if the right to fire goes hand in hand with the right to work, but I'd have to suspect that it does. Of course, if you're fired for or in a way that breaks fed laws and regulations, then that's different. So "they" can fire you if they don't like the color of your hair, but they can't fire you for using FMLA.

Isn't it funny? Here was a perfect opportunity for me to admit that my lack of specific information is a perfectly good basis for NOT offering my opinion. But noooooo.....

Love

Dennie

Dennie you are so right when you say firing goes hand in hand with the right to work. In the state of Tennessee an employer does not have to have a reason to fire you, but they have to have something to back it up. I was let go (a non nursing position, in fact it was for this reason I went into nursing) and with the help of an attorney I was able to get my unemployement benefits. It was well worth the money it cost to hire the attorney just to see my ex-boss (executive director of a non profit organization) being told to be quiet.

BMS4 · Jan 13, 2003

Thank you. :)

Gomer · Jan 13, 2003

Originally posted by BadBird
In a right to work state you can be fired for no reason at all, no union to protect the workers rights.

"Employment-At-Will" states you can be fired or quit without reason.

"Right-To-Work" states you can not be forced to join a union to be employed.

They are not the same thing.

-jt · Jan 13, 2003

Its true. Theres a lot of data & news written about it already. Theres was a govt report confirming it last year too. Also, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Annual Pay by State and Industry, 2000, news release, Sept. 11, 2001, stats show that in states which limit workers' rights to collectively bargain contracts (including wages and benefits) average pay in these so-called "right-to-work" states was at least 20 percent lower than in states where workers have the freedom to form strong unions.

Data, stats, charts & graphs can be viewed at:

http://www.aflcio.org/aboutunions/joinunions/whyjoin/uniondifference/

Union women earn 30 percent more than nonunion women

In nearly every occupational category, union members earn more than nonunion workers.

See and hear what nurse Karen Esposito has to say about health-care benefits.

In states that have laws restricting workers' rights to form strong unions, the average pay for all workers is lower.

See and hear what union activist Laura Gordon has to say about women and unions.

Download a flier on women and unions.