Economic Benefits of Right to Work

New Fact Sheet Confirms: Right to Work States Benefit from Faster Growth, Better Pay

Will Collins — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:29:22 -0400

Regular Freedom@Work readers are already familiar with a growing body of evidence that points to Right to Work states' superior economic performance. A new fact sheet from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research further bolsters the economic case for worker freedom. The Institute's findings show that citizens in Right to Work states enjoyed faster growth and more purchasing power than their counterparts in forced unionism states over the past 10 years. Here are a few of the highlights:

Right to Work States Benefit From Faster Growth, Higher Real Purchasing Power – 2011 Update

read more

Right to Work: Good for Business, Good for Jobs, and Good for Workers

Anthony Riedel — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:22:07 -0400

As reported on the Washington Examiner's "Beltway Confidential" blog, Development Counselors International (DCI) recently asked corporate executives and representatives which states they thought were the best to locate for business. As the Examiner notes, America's job providers overwhelmingly favored states with Right to Work laws.

Of course this should come to no surprise. The results of DCI's survey largely mirrors that of CNBC 2010 "Best for Business" list, in which states with Right to Work protections for its workers were ranked seven of the top 10 and 10 of the top 15.

Mark Mix Talks Right to Work on "The Willis Report"

Nick Cote — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:31:20 -0400

National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix recently appeared on "The Willis Report" on the Fox News Channel to talk about the economic benefits of Right to Work laws, the costs of government-sector forced unionism, and the Foundation's legal aid to workers in South Carolina whose jobs are in jeopardy due to the Obama Labor Board's outrageous complaint against Boeing.

Study: Right to Work Law Would Have Significantly Helped Indiana Workers, Families During Past Four Decades

Anthony Riedel — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:37:20 -0500

As Indiana's state legislators discuss the merits of passing Right to Work protections for Hoosier workers, a group of scholars released a study last week confirming (pdf) workers and their families in Right to Work states benefit from workplace freedom in a very tangible way. From a press release announcing their findings:

Improving the per-capita income of Indiana workers and creating more job opportunities for Hoosiers would be among the major benefits of Indiana becoming the 23rd state to pass a right-to-work (RTW) law, according to research released today by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. In addition, statewide voter polling results show Hoosiers favoring adoption of RTW by a 3-to-1 margin.

read more

New Study Shows Right to Work States Enjoy Higher Growth, More Purchasing Power for Workers

Will Collins — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:44:04 -0500

The primary goal of any Right to Work law is to safeguard employee rights by ensuring that no worker is forced to join or pay tribute to a union against his or her will. But it's nice to know that Right to Work states also enjoy faster growth and higher real purchasing power than their forced unionism counterparts. Here's an excerpt from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research's latest fact sheet on the issue:

Percentage Growth in Real Personal Income (1999-2009)

Right to Work States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.3%
Forced-Unionism States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.7%
National Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.5%

read more

Report: Working Families Fleeing Forced-Unionism States to Find Workplace Freedom and Economic Prosperity

Anthony Riedel — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:09:44 -0500

The National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) has just released a report entitled "Tax-Paying Families Are Fleeing Forced-Unionism States" that details how and why families are moving from the 28 states that do not protect employees from forced unionism to the 22 states that do:

The IRS’s Statistical Information Service (SIS)... data for the Tax Filing Year 2008 show that a total of 1.523 million personal income tax filers were residing that year in a Right to Work state after residing somewhere else in the 50 states or the District of Columbia the previous year. Meanwhile, a total of 1.338 million tax filers were residing in a Right to Work state in 2007, but filed from one of the other 49 states or the District of Columbia in
2008.

read more

Fact Sheet: Families Benefit from Right to Work Laws

Anthony Riedel — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:37:26 -0400

The National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) has released a telling study comparing Right to Work states with forced-unionism states in a variety of statistical categories. The statistics, provided by various governmental departments and agencies as well as respected non-profits, show the stunning economic and personal benefits families enjoy from their states' popular Right to Work laws.

The last five years of available data shows that workers in Right to Work states not only enjoy higher non-farm private-sector job growth (9.1% versus 3.6% from 2003-2008), but their real personal incomes are also growing faster (15.8% vs. 9.1% from 2003-2008) and they enjoy a higher disposable income ($34,878 vs. $32,811 in 2008) than their counterparts in forced unionism states.

Fact Sheet: States with High Rate of Union Monopoly Bargaining Suffering a Horrific "Lost Decade"

Anthony Riedel — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:36:02 -0400

Last week, the pro-worker think tank National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) released a Fact Sheet entitled “Negative Employment Growth Since November 2001” that details how highly-unionized states are suffering a "lost decade" in terms of private-sector job growth, while the least-unionized states have benefited from a nearly 1.5 million private-sector job growth:

As of 2001, the year of the last national recession prior to the current one, 9.7% of private-sector employees nationwide were under “exclusive” union representation. But in 16 states – Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania,. Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin – 11.0% or more of private-sector workers were unionized.

read more

Economic Crisis Brings Even Greater Importance to Job-Producing Right to Work Laws

Patrick Semmens — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:57:48 -0500

Recently the National Institute for Labor Relations Research released a new fact sheet that shows the numerous economic advantages associated with Right to Work states.

As the Fact Sheet details, Right to Work states have significant advantages in many areas including:

Percentage Growth in Real Personal Income
Growth in Real Manufacturing GDP
Percentage Growth in Construction Employment
Growth in Number of College Graduates (age 25+ with B.A.)
Percentage Growth in Number of People/Children Covered by Private, Employer Based Health Insurance

And all those advantages are just icing on the cake. After all, the best reason for Right to Work protections is eliminating the injustice of firing employees for refusal to join or pay dues to a union.

Quick Hits: SEIU Union Boss Corruption, Card Check Lies, and More

Will Collins — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:39:56 -0400

A few Right to Work-related updates from around the web:

1.) The Heritage Foundation's Foundry blog helpfully summarizes the corruption allegations surrounding Tyrone Freeman, head of California's SEIU chapter. What's worse, union mismanagement goes all the way to the top. According to the LA Times, SEIU national brass received word of Freeman's corrupt practices six years ago and still failed to act. (This is the same local union against which Foundation attorneys won a federal court settlement securing the return of almost $10 million in illegally seized forced union dues.)