“Right-to-work” (for less) is the name for a policy designed to take away rights from working people. Backers of right-to-work laws claim that these laws protect workers against being forced to join a union. It doesn’t give workers more freedom—what it does is weaken our ability to come together and fight for better pay and working conditions. The goal? To undermine unions.
“In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right-to-work.’ It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and collective bargaining…”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
One of the most significant aspects of state right-to-work laws was that they prohibited unions from mandating dues needed to function, including activities like collective bargaining between workers and employers for better workplace conditions and pay. In practice, right-to-work meant that workers who did not pay dues still benefitted from a union-negotiated collective bargaining agreement, disincentivizing union support and hampering worker power over time.
Florida became the first state to pass a right-to-work law in 1944, and by the late 1970s, every other Southern state (and numerous non-Southern states) had followed suit. Together, Florida’s 1943 Union Regulation Act and 1944 right-to-work law undercut unions and worker power — by capping fees from members in the former and restricting fee collection from anyone benefitting from a union agreement in the latter.
Right-to-work laws aren’t what people want—A recent Pew survey shows that 60% of Americans, an overwhelming majority, support unions. People understand the value of standing with their coworkers to fight inequality. These laws make it harder for working people to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions. Right-to-work is an agenda to further rig the system at the expense of working people.
Resources
1944 – Florida Undermines Unions with Nation’s First “Right-to-Work” Law
AFSCME: The Racist Roots of Right-to-Work
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on What’s the Law
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Employee Rights
Read the 2024 Florida Statutes on Labor Organizations – Chapter 447
Read the 2024 Florida Statutes on General Labor Regulations – Chapter 448