Right to Work

Right to work 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. The reality is that federal law already makes it illegal to force someone to join a union.

The real purpose of right to work laws is to tilt the balance toward big corporations and further rig the system at the expense of working families. These laws make it harder for working people to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

 

36%

Percent higher the average number of discrimination charges the EEOC receives from right to work states.

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.
Did You Know

In “right to work" states, 24% of jobs in 2019 were in low-wage occupations, compared to 14.5% of jobs in other states without right to work laws.

3.1

The percent a worker's pay drops on average when right to work laws are passed.