Definition of Right-To-Work

A right-to-work law is a statute in the United States of America that prohibits union security agreements, or agreements between labor unions and employers that govern the extent to which an established union can require employees' membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment, either before or after hiring.

Right-to-work laws exist in twenty-three U.S. states, mostly in the southern and western United States.

Such laws are allowed under the 1947 federal Taft–Hartley Act.

A further distinction is often made within the law between those employed by state and municipal governments and those employed by the private sector with states that are otherwise union shop having right to work laws in effect for government employees.

Right-To-Work legislation

By Paul Egan
Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

Dec. 6, 2012--Protestors against Right-To-Work legislation chant "this is what democracy looks like" as they take to the steps of the Capitol in Lansing Thursday.

Right-to-work legislation leaves other initiatives in the dust.

Some Lansing roads closed ahead of Michigan Right-To-Work protests.

Should Michigan pass a right-to-work law, which would make it illegal to require financial support of a union as a condition of employment? Where do you stand?

YES. People shouldn’t have to pay union dues to work a job.
UNDECIDED. I need to hear more before making up my mind.
NO. Strong unions help workers and push to boost wages and benefits

LANSING—Large numbers of Michigan State Police officers were around the Capitol building early this morning as Lansing braced for a day of protests related to controversial right-to-work legislation working its way through the state Legislature.

Today’s protests are a precursor to much larger ones planned for Tuesday, when thousands of union activists are expected to converge at the Capitol.

Supporters of right-to-work legislation have promised a strong presence.

Union members took civil disobedience training in Detroit on Saturday to prepare for the protests.

In Detroit, Congressional Democrats are to meet with Gov. Rick Snyder on right-to-work; a brief report to the media regarding their discussions will follow.

In Lansing, parking meters along Capitol Avenue had bags over them today to prevent on-street parking; the city of Lansing has announced street closures around the Capitol for Tuesday.

The day after Michigan’s legislature held an abrupt vote on right-to-work legislation, United Auto Workers President, Bob King, blamed the influence of Charles and David Koch, as well as “the extreme right wing.”

“In the end, Dick Devos and the extreme right-wing control is what is going on in the state,” King told Detroit radio station WDET.

“And the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity  was there, a lot of money pushing for passage of this legislation and threatening the governor, as well as threatening the different representatives.”

According to the non-partisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network, David Koch gave a total of $988,604.44 to the Republican Governors Association Michigan PAC in 2010, the year when Snyder was elected governor.

Of the PAC’s donors, 98% were from outside Michigan. Americans for Prosperity also erected tents in front of the Michigan capitol before the right-to-work vote. Michigan Freedom Fund aired radio and television ads in favor of the legislation that day.

Gordon Lafer, an expert in American labor law, said that well-funded conservative interest groups had likely been laying the groundwork for a right-to-work vote in Michigan for some time.

Lafer said that the campaign in Michigan was part of a nationwide battle against the labor movement.