Prepared by: Lisa Fell

The Effect of the “Right to Work” Law on Unions and Union Workers in the United States

Capstone Co-ordinator: Ted Seath

Faculty Advisor: Gary Gannon

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I 1 DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM 1 Background Statement 1 Problem Statement 2 Purpose Statement 3 Limitations of Study 3 Reliability 4 Availability 4 Timeliness 4 Precision Error 4 Researcher Prejudice 5 CHAPTER II 5 LITERATURE REVIEW 5 Selected Review of Literature 5 The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Workers and Wages 5 Right-to-Work Laws are Beneficial to Unions and Union Workers 10 Right-to-Work Laws Negatively Affect Unions and Union Workers 16 Free-Riders are the Cause of Union Demise 23 Free-Riders Make Unions More Accountable 26 Results Summary 28 Right-to-Work Laws Weaken Labor Unions 28 Workers Gain Fewer Benefits from Economic Growth under Right-to-Work Laws 28 The Broader Economic Effects of Right-to-Work Laws are Difficult to Separate 29 CHAPTER III 29 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 29 Conclusions 29 Recommendations 30 WORKS CITED 32

CHAPTER I
DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM
Background Statement The typical factory worker in the late nineteenth century worked ten hours a day, six days a week. Unskilled workers were paid between $1.00 and $1.50 per day. Children were a significant part of the labour force after the Civil War. Workplace accidents were common, and the idea of compensating workers injured on the job was unheard of at that time. Unemployment was a problem for unskilled laborers and it was not uncommon for a worker to be out of a job at least part of a year. These statements refer to the working conditions of Americans prior to the labour movement. Although the idea of unionization was realized as early as 1648, it wasn’t until 1903 that congress enacted the