Union members report equal levels of satisfaction with their labor organizations whether they are in states with a right-to-work law or without one, with workers in right-to-work states expressing slightly higher levels of satisfaction with their union in some cases, according to a new study.
“The data … suggests that there is no appreciable difference between union employees from union and right-to-work states and that union employees in right-to-work states are not inadvertently suffering from the prohibition of union security agreements. There is also significant interest among union employees in all states in certain labor law reforms that would give them greater ability to select their representation,” according to a study released Monday by Lloyd Corder, an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. The study was commissioned by National Employee Freedom Week, an advocacy group that promotes right-to-work laws.
Right-to-work laws prohibit workers from being forced to join or otherwise support a union as a condition of employment. Unions hate the laws because they are associated with membership losses and depleted treasuries. Business groups and Republicans back the laws, who argue that the choice of supporting a union should be up to individual workers. Six states have adopted a version since 2012, bringing the total number of states to 28.
While states with the law have fewer unionized businesses, workers can still form or join one. Nevada, a right-to-work state, has a higher unionization rate, at 12 percent, than the nation as a whole, at 10.7 percent.
Corder surveyed 1,687 union members, with 744 from right-to-work states and 943 from states without the law.
The workers reported nearly equal levels of satisfaction regarding: their negotiated wages, with 68 percent in right-to-work states compared with 67 percent in other states; workplace safety, with workers in right-to-work states at 59 percent compared with 57 percent for the rest; and healthcare benefits, with non-right-to-work state workers at 41 percent compared with 40 percent for the rest.
Workers in non-right-to-work states reported higher levels of job security, at 45-42 percent, but workers in right-to-work states reported higher levels of satisfaction with their pension plan, 58-55 percent, and promotion prospects, 50-46 percent.
The study also found that workers liked the idea of having more say in whether they should be represented by a union, with 71 percent from non-right-to-work states backing periodic recertification votes for their union and 74 percent from right-to-work states backing it.
