Labour Unions

...

With right-to-work enacted, people are more likely to take a job that they may not have taken before due to the union. Also people tend to migrate to states with right-to-work decreasing unemployment by nearly three percentage points. (Fladeboe, Hilgemann) People need money so they go to where the jobs are. Opportunity is what most people look for when applying to professional jobs, and these businesses tend to move to states with loser labor laws. Not because they want to operate dangerously, but because they can operate much more cost effectively. Reporter Scott Cohn unraveled quite a significant change in migration to such areas “right-to-work states being 15.5 percent and non-right-to-work 6.1 percent.” (Cohn) Now there are many other factors that can cause people to migrate to an area such as weather, family, taxes, and many more so right-to-work is not the only reason but appears to be a factor that is considered by many.

Right-to-work not only affects the people, but it also it affects the state and its businesses. Right-to-work laws “are really the king of business friendly policies" (Skorup). Jarret Skorup proclaims in his article “Study: Right-to-Work Laws Lead To More People” businesses like to have the ability to run themselves the way they deem best. This lets them set their own wages, rules, and even what they expect of their employees. In a union shop it is a long process to terminate an employee even if that employee is a threat to others. To abide by the union contract they must go through many steps. If a company chooses to not abide by this contract the result will be a strike. Businesses cannot afford to go days, weeks, or even months without production. This leaves them in the hands of the union. With right-to-work they can operate with the best interest of everybody, not just the employees. That is why “many companies will migrate to right-to-work states” (Cohn). It can also help the state. When more businesses and people come to an area it generates more revenue from sales tax, state income tax, and even public service.

As you can see Wisconsin becoming a right-to-work state is not a bad thing. Right-to-work supports the individual employees while boosting the economy and work opportunities for people. It makes the state more business friendly and gives valuable employees a chance to get noticed and get paid what they deserve, not what everybody else is making. Being a right-to-work state in no ways makes any work environment unsafe for an employee. It just gives them the right to be their own agent of employment, which people in the private sector have already been doing and have not had problems. People have a right, through the first amendment, to stand up for what they believe in and not be forced to contribute to something they don’t believe in. Some people find being in a union very helpful in their career, others do not. It is not for everybody and being a right-to-work state just gives everybody a fair playing field in forging their own futures. Right-to-work is a business and people friendly market booster that is necessary to have a flourishing labor market. The overall effect right-to-work has on unions is totally dependent on the union itself. They still maintain all their rights. They are still free to organize and free to collectively bargain. Right-to-work just makes it so people have a choice to leave if they feel they are not receiving what they want from the union. Unions now must focus on how they are going to make themselves more beneficial to their members to be a success. They must now focus on getting a decent wage, excellent benefits, and being helpful to their members.

Works cited

Cohn, Scott. "Do Right-to-work Laws Bring Competitive Advantage?" USA Today. Gannett, 14 July 2013. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Fisk, Catherine. "Courts Vs. Unions: Speech And Association Rights Under Fire." New Labor Forum (Sage Publications Inc.) 23.2 (2014): 42-49. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Apr. 2015

Fisk, Milton. "Unions And The Road To Socialism." Against The Current 174 (2015): 36-40. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Hilgemann, Luke, and David Fladeboe. "The Right-to-Work Advantage." WSJ. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Phillips-Fein, Kim. "Why Workers Won’t Unite." Atlantic 315.3 (2015): 88-98. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Reeder, Scott. “'Fair share' dues to unions are unfair” Chicago Tribune. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Skorup, Jarrett. "Study: Right-to-Work Laws Lead To More People, More Jobs and Higher Pay." [Michigan Capitol Confidential]. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.