right-to-work

[rahyt-tuh-wurk]

adjective

1. being or relating to legislation that prohibits employers from forcing employees to join a union or pay dues to a union if they are not a member of that union.

   The organization spearheaded right-to-work campaigns and worked to pass anti-strike laws in four states.

   Organized labor activists made demands to repeal right-to-work laws.

Word History and Origins

Origin of right-to-work¹

First recorded in 1890–95, for an earlier sense; 1920–25, for the current sense

Example Sentences

Will Ms. Spanberger now forsake her pledges of moderation, such as saying she won’t repeal the state’s right-to-work law?

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No driving home, to take one example, the contradiction between Ms. Spanberger’s campaign promise not to repeal the state’s right-to-work law and her co-sponsorship in Congress of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which would supersede all such state laws.

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Forced unionization harms these independent-minded employees, a problem that passing statewide right-to-work laws outlawing compulsory union payments addresses.

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As a right-to-work state, Tennessee also appeals to companies looking to avoid union entanglements.

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Madeleine Sumption from Oxford University's Migration Observatory think tank said: "I'm a bit sceptical of the narrative you often hear from French politicians about the UK being a soft touch on right-to-work issues because we have broadly the same set of policies as they do and some of the same challenges on unauthorised workers."

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