A tale of two states (and what it tells us about so-called “right-to-work” laws) [feedly]

http://www.epi.org/blog/a-tale-of-two-states-and-what-it-tells-us-about-so-called-right-to-work-laws/
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A tale of two states (and what it tells us about so-called "right-to-work" laws)
// Economic Policy Institute Blog

In 2011 and 2012 two states, New Hampshire and Indiana, debated the same bill: so-called "right-to-work" legislation, pushed by corporate lobbyists and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), designed to weaken unions financially and pave the way for greater corporate dominance of state politics. New Hampshire's governor vetoed the bill in 2011. Indiana, by contrast, enacted it in 2012. It is instructive to compare the two states. By almost any measure, the economy of New Hampshire is stronger and its citizens are better off, on average, than the citizens of Indiana. Right-to-work did not improve the Indiana economy relative to New Hampshire's, and no one should be fooled into thinking that passing right-to-work now will improve the New Hampshire economy.

So-called "right-to-work" laws prohibits unions and employers from agreeing to collective bargaining agreements that require employees covered by the agreement to pay their fair share of the costs of negotiating and enforcing it. The only right that "right-to-work" creates is the right for free riders to get the benefit of higher union wages and protections against unfair discipline without contributing any dues or fees for that privilege.

EPI published two reports critical of the New Hampshire legislation, one in 2011 and another in 2012, pointing out that the only real purpose and effects of these laws are lowering wages and weakening unions. As the figure below suggests, such laws do nothing to create jobs, and they don't give anyone a right to work, but they are associated with lower wages—lower on average by more than 3 percent, or $1,500 per worker.

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