Jobs recovery far more rapid in right-to-work states

By Mark Mix. 

"As the nation strives to get back to normal after the steep COVID-19 recession, it is obvious some states have much further to go than others.

Recently updated data from the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor show that from 2010 to 2020, "right-to-work" states outpaced forced-unionism states in job growth by nearly 2 to 1 — and they are now poised to get back much sooner to their pre-pandemic job numbers than forced-unionism states. The current trend shows right-to-work states will surge even further ahead over the next decade.

Last fall, the Commerce Department released for the first time annual employment numbers for 2020 in the 50 states, as well as revised data for earlier years. The updated data show that, from 2010 to 2020, the 22 states that had right-to-work laws banning forced union dues and fees as a job condition on the books for the entire decade saw an 18% increase in their aggregate private-sector employment. Meanwhile, private-sector employment in the 23 states that have forced unionism grew by barely more than half as much.

The six top-ranking states over the decade, enjoying employment gains of between 20.8% and 31.3%, are all right-to-work.

Jobs in right-to-work states are typically high-quality. National Institute for Labor Relations Research analyses of Commerce Department data show real per-employee compensation in right-to-work states is consistently higher than in forced-unionism states.

After adjusting for regional cost-of-living differences with indices calculated by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, a state government agency, in 2020, private-sector employees earned over $800 more compensation per person in right-to-work states than in forced-unionism states.

And the right-to-work employment advantage has been especially wide since COVID-19 emerged, as the Labor Department’s household survey data clearly show. The most recent available monthly household survey data, going up through December 2021, indicate that total employment in forced-unionism states was 3.6% below its pre-COVID-19 level in February 2020. The distance the 27 current right-to-work states had to go to get back to their pre-COVID-19 level was less than one-quarter as great. Obviously, their complete jobs recovery will come far sooner than in forced-unionism states as a group.

The latest government data simply confirm what right-to-work supporters have been saying for many years: In states where workers are forced to pay tribute to union bosses as a condition of employment, Big Labor’s inordinate economic power results in slower job growth when times are good and greater job destruction when recession strikes.

The detrimental impact of forced unionism is clear. The wasteful work rules, job featherbedding, and union-label “hate-the-boss” propaganda foisted on employees without right-to-work protections are a recipe for long-term economic disaster.

America's workers are the most productive in the world, and there is no doubt our country will come roaring back from the COVID-19 recession. Unfortunately, in forced-unionism states, the “roar” may be more of a whisper.

Today, America’s front-line private-sector employees in 23 states are potentially at risk of being fired for refusal to bankroll a union they don’t want and never asked for. Unless right-to-work protections are extended to these employees, they will continue to be left behind as their counterparts in the now 27 right-to-work states enjoy the full benefits of a strong and recovering economy.

This is just one of several reasons why workers in every state should enjoy the freedom and opportunity of right-to-work protections.

Fortunately, because federal labor law is the source of private-sector forced union dues and fees, Congress has the authority and the responsibility to fix the problem. To ensure post-COVID-19 recovery for employees, Congress should pass the National Right to Work Act.

This landmark legislation would protect private-sector employees in all 50 states from being compelled to bankroll a union or be fired simply by repealing all the current provisions in federal labor law that authorize forced union dues and fees.

Mark Mix is the president of the National Right to Work Committee."