Posts tagged right-to-work
Watson Commentary: Making the AFL-CIO great again: labor policy in 2026
January 20, 2026 // The biggest labor issue of all might be the changing composition of what remains of the union movement. Goodbye, manual-labor men; hello purple-haired they/them grad students.
Commentary: Right-to-Work States Dominate U-Haul Growth Index
January 12, 2026 // Among the top ten growth states in the U-Haul index, nine have a Right-to-Work law that protects workers from being forced to pay dues to union bosses as a condition of employment. -Among the bottom ten states in the U-Haul index, NONE has a Right-to-Work law. All are forced unionism states. -Of the 25 top ranked cities in the U-Haul Growth Index, 24 are located in Right-to-Work states. The 10 best ranked states in the U-Haul Growth Index are Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Alabama and Georgia. All are Right-to-Work except Washington.
Security Guards at Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant Demand Vote to Remove SPFPA Union Officials
January 12, 2026 // Security guards working for Southern Nuclear Operating Company have recently filed a petition asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a vote to remove the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) union from their workplace. The guards, who filed the petition with assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, work at Plant Vogtle, a major nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Georgia.
Democrats will reintroduce bill to do away with second unionization vote
January 11, 2026 // Business leaders argue that the second vote is necessary to preserve the economic liberty of workers opposed to unionization and to stop them from being forced to pay union fees when they don’t want to do so. They also say the law gives Colorado an edge over union states in attracting jobs — one of the few edges it retains as increasing housing costs and regulations now rank the state as having the fourth-highest cost of living and 13th-highest cost of doing business. Labor leaders say the second vote is an already difficult hurdle that is routinely made harder by employers who ramp up intimidation campaigns between votes to get employees to vote “no.” And without the fees generated by union security, unions don’t have the resources to properly represent workers in hard-fought negotiations, leaders say.
Op-ed: I Beat My Union in Court. Did Oregon Forget?
January 6, 2026 // Unions are bleeding members. Workers are exercising their rights by resigning, keeping their dues money in their own pockets instead of funding political causes with which they don’t agree. Instead of making themselves more appealing to workers, unions lobbied the state government to criminalize speech and the rank-and-file’s desire to exercise their freedom of association. Oregon says the Freedom Foundation’s mailings “confuse” workers. What’s most confusing is why a state would make it illegal to tell workers about their constitutional rights while allowing unions to send unlimited recruitment mail.
Opinion: Labor relations group: Big labor Virginia state senator spins anti-right-to-work fables
January 6, 2026 // Right-to-Work is overwhelmingly popular with the commonwealth’s citizens, and states with such laws typically enjoy far faster employment growth and substantially higher cost-of-living-adjusted disposable incomes than forced-dues states.
Penske Leasing Workers Free Themselves from Teamsters’ ‘Representation’ Dallas area workers increasingly demanding individual freedom from unions
December 30, 2025 // The decertification election was scheduled for December 18, but on the day of the election, union officials formally disclaimed interest in continuing as the workers’ “representative,” removing the need for an election. Teamsters bosses presumably knew they would have lost the vote overwhelmingly, and preemptively conceded defeat.
Pro-Worker or Pro-Union? Why Choice—not Coercion—Is the Future of Labor Policy, Disunion: The Government Union Report; Commonwealth Foundation
December 18, 2025 // This week on Disunion, host David Osborne is joined by Austen Bannan of Americans for Prosperity and Vincent Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker, to break down a sweeping new report: How to Empower Workers: Embracing a Pro-Worker Agenda Built on Choice. With Congress rolling out a flurry of labor bills—from right-to-work reforms and secret ballot protections to proposals backed by unions and even some Republicans—this episode cuts through the noise. The panel explains why many so-called “pro-worker” policies actually empower union bosses and government regulators, not workers themselves.
WV Quarry Workers Win Freedom from Unwanted Boilermakers Union
December 9, 2025 // The NLRB’s decision comes after IBB bosses “disclaimed interest” in the work unit, which followed a majority of workers signing a petition last month, asking the NLRB to hold a secret ballot election to “decertify” IBB union bosses as the workers exclusive representative. That petition was filed by quarry employee Curtis Mills with free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
With holiday season underway, temporary workers notified they don’t have to join a union
December 7, 2025 // The notice provides information and legal rights about union membership, union fees and union documents. It explains that “Employees have a right not to be members of unions. Employers and unions thus cannot legally require temporary employees to be full union members to get or keep their jobs. However, as discussed below, if you do not work in a Right to Work state, you may be required to pay union fees as a condition of employment.” Even in 24 states that don’t have Right to Work protections, if temporary employees work less than 30 days they are not legally obligated to pay union fees, the foundation explains.