Right-to-work Provisions

Despite the fact that there has been the need to streamline the labor policies to be in line with then current demands of today's work force, the labor market still remain in crisis. Thus is because the private sector has recorded a sharp decline of more than 7.5% in the recent past and as such does not play an active role in the restricting of the labor policy. In addition to that, labor laws are broken and as such policies continuously conflict in their objectives. These are some of the factors that led to the Section 14(b) of the National Labor Relations Act that addresses the right-to-work provision.

Right-to-work provisions are labor statutes enforced in some states in the U.S. that "prohibit employers and labor unions from requiring membership in a union as a condition of employment, either before being hired or after the employee has started work"  (Hunnicutt, 1988). This means that it is a conditional state in which an employee can opt to join union or stay out. The passage on the National Labor Relations Act introduced to the congress by Taft Hartley gives the states the powers to decide whether they wanted to be closed or open shops. 

A number of states that have chosen to use the Right-to-work provisions are 22 in number. These are Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Wyoming, Arizona, Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota, Idaho, Utah, Virginia, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and Oklahoma (National Right to Work Committee (U.S.), 1968) have the right to work provision that is entrenched under the constitution as opposed to other states that are under legislative action.

In the analysis of the Right-to-work provisions, four characteristics of these states emerge. The first characteristic is that in the event that one happens to work in these states, they have the right to refuse joining any union and thus is not bound by law to submit fees to union.

However, one can decide to remit dues or fees to the union if he or she decides to join in his free will. The second characteristic is that various forms of employment that are undertaken in Federal property may not receive protection under this provision in some states. The third characteristic is that all federal government employees are fully protected by this provision and cannot, under any circumstance be forced to join union or remit fees. The last is that both airline and railway employees are not protected under these provisions. It has been advanced in research that Right-to-work states seem to record higher employment and economic growth than the non Right-to-work states.

The problem of "free riders" has existed in all types of economies. These are defined as a group of people whose consumption is more their in-put in the cost of production. This is because breeds underproduction or even non-production which are not good for economies. In fact, opponents of Right-to-work provisions posit that it encourages free rides thereby giving other employees the right to enjoy the benefits of unionization. On the other hand, cheap risers are those who fully subscribe to the union membership but nevertheless pay for the representation of the union. For example, these are individuals who will only purchase expensive insurance after they fall sick.