The Principle and Substance of Right to Work Laws - Assignment Example

Abstract Right to Work Laws participate in the economic development of the states, contribute to the activity of labour associations and workforce, as well as present contentious and imperative queries on laws. Because of some prevalent classification queries, experimental proofs are a long way from being definite and decisive. By utilizing investigative means of unveiling the history, the concepts and underlying principles of the Right to Work laws, as well as its effects, influence and contributions - either positive or negative - to the state economies, this research shall evaluate the realest essence of having a Right to Work law applied on a certain state. Further, this will elaborate more on the effects that the Right to Work legislation has brought into employability, the reservation of civil rights and the improvement of the economy as a whole. In contrary, this will also examine the negative effects of the Right to Work legislation on employability, the preservation of civil rights and its negative effect on the economy as whole. To decide this investigation, a terse summation of the whole investigative unveiling shall be included that will also settle misunderstandings of the Right to Work Laws. There have been manifold and rigorous studies conducted in order to assess the function and the part of the Right-to-Work Laws in employment, salaries, civil rights, the industrial model, the economic consequences as well as the preference of some large, powerful and most coveted companies as to where they will put up their new business establishments. These leave well-timed queries for the reason that numerous state governments are presently taking into account the Right-to-Work regulation. This particular research or investigation expands the scope of analysis to the effects and the consequential bearings of the Right-to-Work legislation in extremely limited, slim subject matters - the industrial structure, industrial proceeds, the employment rate, and the salary rates in the United States. Scrutinizing more than fifty years of variations and modifications, we pursue to substantially integrate more accessible information that pertains to the varying questions about the share being played by the Right to Work laws. The queries being raised in relation to the significance of Right to Work laws to some of the people of the United States is not a new question; nevertheless, we desire to bend our focus on enumerating and putting a figure on the changes to industrial firms that are affiliated to the Right to Work laws. These are just some of the queries that the people are confronting and are puzzling lawmakers when cogitating on their standpoint on alterations to the Right to Work law. Conversely, these are not the few questions that we wish to answer. There are manifold subject matters and numerous additional questions - which some are predominantly economic in nature - but there are also non-economic subjects that we have to address. This research will not deal with issues irrelevant to the aforementioned topics. All investigation is regulated in extent, and even though the issues we are evaluating are substantial, its comparative significance cannot be decided without having a more proportional investigation. Therefore, it is impossible for us to decide and eventually conclude from this toil alone, the effectiveness of the legislation or if these subject matters are of secondary or main significance or has no importance at all to the assessment of this issue. We commence by succinctly going over the Right to Work legislation, emphasizing some areas of specific concentration. This will then be shadowed by thoroughly elucidating the vagueness contemporaneous in the economic theory pertaining to the influences of the Right to Work legislation. This will then be rested in the perspective of the prevailing body of investigation on the subject matter. We track this with unequivocal economic structuring of the effects of the Right to Work laws in the United States on different sectors like the distribution of the aggregate income on manufacturing share in all states as well as the manufacturing incomes per se. This research shall be ended with conclusions and various suggestive points that can be referred to for future investigation and for additional examinations and policy deliberations. What is Right to Work Law? Affiliations or memberships by all workforces to labour unions were implemented after the National Labour Relations Act of 1935, otherwise known as "the Wagner Act" allowed the labor unions to impose the legislation. Particular types of employees - both white and blue collar jobs: managerial, those working in the railroad, domestic services, and government workers - were excused from the legislation. However, in 1947, the Taft-Harley Act reduced this restriction, allowing some workers to evade compelling acts of memberships on labour unions and eventually kept away from the obligations of paying union dues. Nevertheless, the complete enactment of the legislation obliged each state to carry out the legislation to this purpose. Eventually, this turned out to be the Right to Work Law. The first states to implement the Right to Work laws were deeply focused in the southern part and the South-western regions of the United Sates. During these times, these areas are those which were not greatly and pervasively developed into industrial hubs. Moreover, aside from its pristine geographical and economic state, there emerged some cultural opposition with regards to the labour organizations in the Southern regions. Indiana accepted and approved the Right to Work Law in 1957 but had withdrawn private division Right to Work law in the year 1965. There has been a very sluggish implementation with the 22 states presently having accepted the Right to Work Law from the time when the Taft-Harley Act was imposed. What is the concept of the Right to Work Law? The Right to Work Legislation has an effect on the collective bargaining process - through which the employers and labour unions come together to discuss about contracts touching the provisions of employment - involving the employers and the workers in private companies, however, it can also include workers employed in government-owned companies and agencies. By and large, the employer and the labour union come to an agreement on all terms and conditions as indicated in the contract prior to the execution of the legislation. Albeit labour unions mostly are represented by union officials, a voting that is participated by the members of the union is being performed in order to decide whether or not they will agree to take the contract. Manifold labor unions and employers reach a decision to incorporate a "union security" clause which indicates that all employees who are affiliated to a certain labour union who have accepted assistances brought about by the collective bargaining agreement be required to shell out their share of the charge and the cost of union account. Furthermore, Right to Work Laws do not allow employers and workers from reaching a deal on a union security clause. Beginning January 2012, there are twenty-two states which are currently adopting Right to Work Laws. See table below. State Year of RTW Establishment State Year of RTW Establishment Alabama 1943 Nevada 1911 Arizona 1946 North Carolina 1947 Arkansas 1944 North Dakota 1935 Florida 1943 Oklahoma 2001 Georgia 1947 South Carolina 1954 Idaho 1985 South Dakota 1946 Iowa 1974 Tennessee 1947 Kansas 1958 Texas 1993 Louisiana 1976 Utah 1955 Mississippi 1954 Virginia 1947 Nebraska 1946 Wyoming 1963 *Starting January 2012, there are twenty-two (22) states which are presently adopting Right to Work Laws in position and there are a number of them which are thinking to set up Right to Work legislations. Underneath the lawful responsibility of "fair representation", a labour union is required to act for all employees bargaining part justly and evenly, and should not be contingent as to whether they are members of the union or not. In a nutshell, Right to Work Laws permits the exemption of non-union member employees from paying dues while still receiving all the assistances and benefits of a discussed contract. Presently, there are twenty-two states adopting the Right to Work Law and most of which are those economically meagre states. A scrutiny of the effects of the Right to Work Laws demonstrates that the Right to Work legislation is not fair to those who are rightfully and regularly paying the dues for the benefits that they receive from the union and at the same time to deliver assistances and benefits to those employees who are not member of the labour union and who are not paying dues expended for union representation and other services. These legislations compel labour union to allot their time and the dues paid for by the members of the labour union for the assistance of the non-affiliated employees who are reluctant to pay up for their share. This eventually wanes labour unions and their capacity to indulge in collective bargaining; additionally, it affects the salaries and the working agreements of the union members and the non-union members. As a result, the government might meddle in settling the intricacies and entangled issues regarding collective bargaining in order to negotiate on the union security. What are the good benefits that a Right to Work Law can bring to a state? A newly-released report from the office of Senator Demint - a South Carolina legislator - demonstrates that states who have adopted the Right to Work Laws or states which disallowed the compelled membership to labour unions and payment of dues are economically outdoing without having protection for employees. According to the investigation, Right to Work states possess more fresh occupants, more business establishments erected, an increase on the availability of jobs, and there is an accelerated increment on the state income. Likewise, the study demonstrates that there more Americans who are choosing to transfer their residence to states which implements Right to Work Laws. The accelerated upsurge in the population and new business establishments caused the immense and rapid increase in the number of jobs available in the working world. In addition, it has also increased the salary for workers in Right to Work States. The adoption of the Right to Work laws had gained the Right to Work states a 46% growth on private businesses. Private sector work has increased almost 38% in Right to Work states which generated almost sixteen (16) million jobs as measured up to the 19.6% in unionized states or is equivalent to almost fifteen (15) million jobs. Personal income of employees in a Right to Work state is rising rapidly as compared to employees who are employed in a unionized state. A seven-year observation – tracked between 1993 and 2010 - stresses that the exact per capita income of each employee working in a non-unionized state have grown to almost forty percent (40%) against a 35.7% in unionized states. What are the drawbacks of Right to Work Laws? Several administrative studies demonstrates that employers who are affiliated to a labour union receive higher salaries, assistances, benefits and working agreements as compared to those who are not members. Furthermore, the benchmarks achieved in labour contracts can aid to the improvement of salaries, benefits and the working conditions of employees not affiliated to a labor union by increasing the total weekly wage and assistance height of the state. Seen this way, unionization not only gives benefits to those who are members but even to those who are non-members. While many have believed that Right to Work laws would bring employment and better working conditions, over time, Right to Work laws will probably weaken the wages and the benefits of the non-union member employees and preclude sufficient representation of workers. It is likewise imperative to evaluate the difference between the social and economic security and comfort of families and employees in Right to Work states as compared to those states that permits their employers and labour unions to discuss agreements without having restraints. The differences between the salaries and the benefits of workers in a "free-bargaining" states and states which are currently adopting Right to Work laws are fairly obvious. The median earning of employees who are working full time in non-right to work states per week was almost 13.5 per cent greater against the right to work state workers at $680. Many supporters of the Right to Work laws oftentimes claim that it will increase the number of job availability, improve working conditions, states will become magnets for more business establishment investing in the state and of course, better wages for the employees. Nevertheless, the proof involving this claim is terribly incongruous and does not follow their assertions. Take for example, in the latest level classifications of US states conducted by the Corporation for Enterprise Development, it was found out that states who did not adopt the Right to Work laws have higher business creation rate. Another experimental investigation expresses that Right to Work laws are not the answer for encouraging the promotion of economic upheaval and salary augmentation. States who have established Right to Work laws have worse per capita incomes as compared to those indulging in free-bargaining agreements. In deliberating the outcomes of their reversing analysis, they affirm that the most significant analysts and forecasters of income within a state are not "business climate" aspects, but the educational attainments of the workers comprising the state. They also decided that Right to Work states grows sluggishly as soon as they have established the Right to Work Laws in their respective states. One most intense indicator of the contrasting benefits of the free-bargaining states and the Right to Work states is the "poverty rate". The poverty levels on Right to Work states have poverty rates of up to fifteen per cent. In contrary, there are only six states out of the twenty eight who are not adopting the Right to Work laws do have poverty rates above fifteen per cent. This has strongly suggested the idea that the implementation of the Right to Work Laws will not only wane the economic situation of a certain state over time, but in a smaller scope and scale, will take away many rights from employees which eventually would lead to worst jobs settings. If approved, a Right to Work law could urge for an even lesser salaries and smaller, fewer assistances and aids for the employees which definitely no one would desire for. As observed, the salaries of employees working on a Right to Work state typically and substantially less as compared to the salaries in a free-bargaining state. Moreover, in spite of the many assertions of the supporters of the Right to Work laws, these poorer wages are not merely elaborated by the disparities in poverty rate, salary rate, the number of jobs and companies but also has adverse effects on the economy of the state and up to the expense of the living conditions of the employees and their respective families. Because of low income, people will have to sacrifice many things including their personal necessities. Basically, people who have lower income have little money to expend for their daily needs like food and important services, bills and other essentials. Furthermore, more meagre revenues on tax would result into a poorer quality of services just like in education and healthcare which will bring a bad image to the state and over time would cause the slow economic growth of the state because many investors will become sceptical to the state's economic structure and activity. At the end of the day, it would injure the economy of the state. The Right to Work law is a constitutionally tangible topic that has extensive concerns and purpose. We recognize this fact and confess the ability of economic study to address these issues is inadequate. Nonetheless, economic matters related to the industrial share of the economy and the improvement of the industry in a complete way, the employment, the wages are subject areas that our social scientists, particularly, the economists are fitted to attend to. Proponents of the law asserts that Right to Work law would bring extensive lasting benefits to the workers because it offers the employees the chance to negotiate freely on their employment contracts without being pressured by the dues they need to pay if they will join labour unions. On the other hand, opponents of the law believe that Right to Work laws will destroy the economy of the state and will take the rights of the workers away from them. In my opinion, I think that labour unions can help boost the economy because it gives the workers freedom to demand for their rights in terms of salary and wages, job employment and observance on the rightfulness and fairness of the employment agreements. Furthermore, if we adopt the Right to Work law, albeit, it will give us more freedom and chance to work in an environment and conditions we desire, over time, it will paralyze our rights to petition to rectify certain inconsistencies and unfair treatments in the workplace because it will give the employer autonomy over the discussed employment agreement. References: May, C. (2011) Right-to-work states economically better off: Study. The Daily Caller. Retrieved from http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/16/right-to-work-states- economically-better-off-study/ U.S. Department of Labour, Wage and Hour Division (U.S. DOL/WHD). Table of State Right-to-work Laws. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/righttowork.htm Garofalo, G., & Malhotra, D. (1992). An integrated model of the economic effects of right-to-work laws. Journal of Labour Research, 13, 293-305. Farber, H. (2005). Non-union wage rates and the threat of unionization. Industrial and Labour Relations, 58, 335-352. “The Right to Work and the Right at Work.” (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/IHRIP/circle/modules/module10.htm Johnson, P. (n.d.). Right-to-work laws. A Glossary of Political Economy Terms. Retrieved from http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/right-to-work “Right To Work States.” (n.d.). National Right to Work: Legal Defence Foundation, Inc. Retrieved from: http://www.nrtw.org/rtws.htm Elwood, D., & Fine, G. (1987).The impact of right-to-work laws on union organizing. Journal of Political Economy, 95, 250-273. Bureau of Labour Education: University of Maine. (2011). The truth about “Right to Work” laws. Retrieved from http://umaine.edu/ble/files/2011/01/RighttoWork_Laws.pdf Moore, W., & Newman, R. (1985). Do right-to-work laws matter? Southern Economic Journal, 53, 515-524. Read More