By Bryan D. LeMoine McMahon Berger P.C.

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1 By Bryan D. LeMoine McMahon Berger P.C.

2 In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as right to work. It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and collective bargaining... Martin Luther King Jr. Right to work is the name for a policy designed to take away rights from working people. Backers of right to work laws claim that these laws protect workers against being forced to join a union. The reality is that federal law already makes it illegal to force someone to join a union. The real purpose of right to work laws is to tilt the balance toward big corporations and further rig the system at the expense of working families. These laws make it harder for working people to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

3 "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson Abuses arising from compulsory unionism take many forms. In order to better plan our direction and check our progress in each area of litigation, all Foundation cases are divided into one of seven categories: Misuse of forced union dues for political purposes; Union coercion violating employees constitutional and civil rights; Injustices of compulsory union "hiring halls;" Union violations of the merit principle in public employment and academic freedom in education; Union violence against workers; Injustices of union organizing; Violations of other existing legal protections against union coercion.

4 First, some background. Wagner Act of 1935 Still allows unions to represent a bargaining unit if more than 50% of the persons who vote at the election vote for union representation. If there are 50 people in the unit and only 7 show up, the union needs 4 votes. Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 made right to work laws legal. Most right to work laws passed in the 1940s and 50s.

5 A right to work law guarantees that no person can be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join or to pay dues to a labor union (i.e., no union security clause). A union security clause requires bargaining unit employees to establish and maintain union membership as a condition of employment. This is a mandatory subject of bargaining (also see union shop ). Congress is currently exploring a national right to work law.

7 Courts in the 7 th Circuit have upheld right to work laws in Wisconsin and Indiana. The argument that right to work laws effect an unconstitutional taking from unions have not been successful. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the law in Ohio and Kentucky.

8 On February 6, 2017, Gov. Greitens signed Senate Bill 19, making Missouri the 28th right to work state. Missouri's right to work statute will become on effective Aug. 28, No person can be required, as a condition of employment, to be a union member or to pay dues, fees, assessments or similar charges to a union, or to pay any charity or third party the charges, fees or assessments that are charged to union members.

9 Any agreement in violation of the statute is unlawful, null, and void. Applies to both public and private sector employees. Criminal and civil penalties. The federal sector is carved out as are employers and employees covered by the Railway Labor Act. The new statute does not apply to an agreement entered into between a union and an employer before the law's effective date. Union contracts entered into before Aug. 28, may contain union security clauses. If union contract that is renewed, extended, amended or modified in any respect on or after Aug. 28, will be subject to the new right-to-work rules.

10 AFL-CIO & NAACP sponsored a Veto Referendum Citizen-initiated measure addressing a law that the General Assembly and Governor approved. Requires a number of signatures equivalent to 5 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election in six of the eight state congressional districts. Requires between 90,000 and 100,000 signatures to be placed on ballot Must be submitted with signatures before August 28, 2017

11 If sufficient signatures collected; Right to Work would not go into effect August 28, 2017; would be placed on ballot in August Past history of veto referendums: Last used 1982 Of 26 referendums in past, all but 2 overrode General Assembly

12 Right to work laws do not make unions or union organizing unlawful. Right to work laws do not necessarily reduce union membership. In 2015, unions in 25 right to work states gained more members than in states without the laws. Membership increased by 125,000 in right-to-work states and only 91,000 in states without right to work laws. Right to work laws do not impact the right of a Beck objector to decline to pay dues used for political purposes.

13 Right to work laws do not eliminate or reduce a union s ability to organize a workplace or a worker s ability to become a union member and pay dues. It simply makes paying dues a voluntary decision rather than a term and condition of employment.

14 Union is generally required to represent employee Employee is bound by the union contract Union is the employee s exclusive bargaining agent Employee is required to join union or pay union dues Right to Work States X X X Non-Right to Work X X X X *Chart taken from Effects of Right to Work Laws on Employees, Unions and Businesses by John W. Cooper, available at

15 Unknown impact on wages unions increase the wages of union employees but decrease wages of non-union employees. Credible studies suggest there is minimal impact of right to work on wages.* Opponents of right to work laws claim wages are lower in right to work states, but those claims do not adjust for the cost of living variance in right to work versus non-right to work states. Look back at our chart. * Effects of Right to Work Laws on Employees, Unions and Businesses by John W. Cooper, available at

17 What about the impact on employment levels? The most credible studies suggest that there is a positive relationship between a state s adoption of a right to work law and a state s economic development.* Between 2005 and 2015, every auto plant was built in a right to work state. * Effects of Right to Work Laws on Employees, Unions and Businesses by John W. Cooper, available at

18 What about the impact on union membership and an increase in free riders? The studies are inconclusive although unions in some right to work states have seen an increase in union membership. The studies are inconclusive as to the number and impact of free riders. However, it seems to make sense that union membership will ultimately decline and free riders will increase unless the members see real value in paying dues. * Effects of Right to Work Laws on Employees, Unions and Businesses by John W. Cooper, available at

19 Other studies have, of course, disagreed with the conclusions above. Darrel Minor studied 7 measures for standard of living, and compared right to work states with work friendly states. The 7 measures were: Gross Domestic Product, poverty rates (# of residents in a state living below the poverty level), percentage of state citizens with basic health insurance, employment rates, home ownership rates, life expectancy rates, income gap (spread between highest incomes and lowest incomes). Mr. Minor concludes that those 7 measures demonstrate that right to work states are worse for residents than employee friendly states. * Poverty, Productivity, and Public Health: The Effects of Right to Work Laws on Key Standards of Living, Darrell Minor, NEA Higher Education Journal, Fall 2012.

20 Current CBAs remain in effect and are grandfathered until there is a renewal, extension, amendment or modification. There has been a significant increase in bargaining activity since right to work passed as unions attempt to negotiate long-term extensions on contracts to maintain a union security clause. There will likely be litigation over whether right to work is legal in Missouri. There will likely be litigation over the language of the statute itself, and more specifically the grandfather clause. To any agreement between an employer and a labor organization entered into before the effective date of this section but shall apply to any such agreement upon its renewal, extension, amendment, or modification in any respect after the effective date of this section.

21 Employers that are unionized may see an uptick in the amount of advocacy and work unions are doing on behalf of employees. Unions may have an easier time unionizing workforces because there is no requirement that the employees pay dues. Hopefully Missouri will see increased business activity as employers see Missouri (now that it is right to work and has a motivating factor standard under the Missouri Human Rights Act) as a viable location for new locations. Employers should not relax their communication with employees. Employees must feel like they have the ability to talk directly with management or they may feel that unions are their best voice. Consider carefully reducing wages after the state s minimum wage law comes into effect.

22 John Cooper s paper entitled Effect of Right to Work Laws on Employees, Unions and Businesses takes a hard look at numerous studies and scholarly articles related to right to work laws. Many of his conclusions, if not all, are supported by James Sherk, Research Fellow, Labor Economics at the Heritage Foundation, who testified at length regarding right to work laws before the Committee on Labor and Government Reform, Wisconsin Senate, on March 3, But see Poverty, Productivity, and Public Health: The Effects of Right to Work Laws on Key Standards of Living, Darrell Minor, NEA Higher Education Journal, Fall You can find the article related to the bounce back of union membership in right to work states at Right to work is not the whole story, however, regarding union membership. Public-sector workers had a union membership rate (34.4 percent) more than five times higher than that of private-sector workers (6.4 percent). This decline in private sector union membership has been ongoing since the 1950s.

March 11, Ray LaJeunesse, Vice President & Legal Director. , Vice President & Legal Director National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

March 11, Ray LaJeunesse, Vice President & Legal Director. , Vice President & Legal Director National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Session Impact of Title Right-to-Work Laws March 11, 2013 Ray LaJeunesse, Vice President & Legal Director Presenter name & date, Vice President & Legal Director National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation