Facts
Americans for Prosperity believes in defending workers' right to a secret ballot. However, union organizers and liberals want to take this right away. This would make it easier for union bosses to pressure workers into joining unions.
Their contention is that unions make states and workers more prosperous.
Are they right? Let's take a look at the issue and some data.
| Productivity Growth | Job Growth | Economic Growth | |
| Right-to-work | 18.6% | 17.6% | 41.6% |
| Union shop | 17.3% | 8.9% | 33.5% |
Private Sector, real chained 200 dollars.
Sources: GDP by state from U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and state employment from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The following chart compares economic growth in the ten states with the greatest percentage of the private sector workforce in unions to the ten states with the lowest percentage.
The ten most heavily unionized states saw 29.2% job growth and a 45.3% increase in GDP. The ten states with the lowest union concentration had substantially better economic performance: a 39.6% increase in private sector jobs and a 69.9% increase in GDP.
States that have allowed this freedom, experienced tremendous growth as businesses move their operations to states that promote a friendly environment.
Right to work states have had more than double the population growth of union shop states since 1990. The Right to Work states saw, on average, a 65.5% increase in population over the 16-year period while states with union shops laws only experienced an average of a 45% increase.
Advocates of forced unionization proclaim that unions help workers by securing higher wages, but even this contention fails the numbers test. The wages of workers in Right to Work states rose an average of 23%, while in union shop states’ average wages only rose 15%.
The Employee NO Choice Act is Bad for Works, States and Businesses
Studies that have looked at the impacts of proposed card check legislation have found:
* Real GDP was depressed by about $3.5 trillion dollars from 1947 to 2000 due to unions. If you added the decrease in real wages paid to employees, the total impact rises to more than $50 trillion.
* From 2001 to 2006, the economies of states where unionizing is more difficult outperformed more union-friendly states in total economic growth, job growth, gross state product, and per-capita disposable income.
* One study found that union-produced "deadweight" loss to the US economy of 0.91% of GDP in 1980 and 0.34% of GDP in 2000 (noting that the effect on GDP declined as union membership declined).
Source: Richard K. Vedder, Ph.D. & Lowell E. Gallaway, Ph.D., "Do Unions Help the Economy? The Economic Effects of Labor Unions Revisited," National Legal and Policy Center and The John M. Olin Institute for Employment Practice and Policy (2002), http://www.nlpc.org/olap/lrev/economy.pdf
Michigan: A Case Study in Forced Unionization
The Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, compared Michigan to less unionized states with Right to Work laws. The report found that:
* Michigan’s average annual growth in real gross state product was only 1.8 percent from 1977 to 1999. Right-to-work states, with much lower levels of unionization, saw their real gross state product growth rate almost double Michigan’s rate at 3.4 percent.
* Michigan’s average annual employment growth was only 1.5 percent from 1970 to 2000, whereas Right to Work states grew by 2.9 percent.
* Michigan’s manufacturing growth actually declined during this time period by 0.3 percent whereas Right to Work states saw an increase in manufacturing job growth by 1.5 percent.
* The overall poverty rate for Right to Work states dropped by 6.7 percent from 1969 to 2000, while Michigan’s poverty rate increased by 0.6 percent.
Unemployment Rates Below the National Average of 7.2
December 2008: Preliminary Figures
| State | Unemployment Rate | Right to Work |
| Wyoming | 3.4 | Right to Work |
| North Dakota | 3.5 | Right to Work |
| South Dakota | 3.9 | Right to Work |
| Nebraska | 4.0 | Right to Work |
| Utah | 4.3 | Right to Work |
| Iowa | 4.6 | Right to Work |
| New Hampshire | 4.6 | |
| New Mexico | 4.9 | |
| Oklahoma | 4.9 | Right to Work |
| West Virginia | 4.9 | |
| Kansas | 5.2 | Right to Work |
| Montana | 5.4 | |
| Virginia | 5.4 | Right to Work |
| Hawaii | 5.5 | |
| Maryland | 5.8 | |
| Louisiana | 5.9 | Right to Work |
| Texas | 6.0 | Right to Work |
| Colorado | 6.1 | |
| Arkansas | 6.2 | Right to Work |
| Delaware | 6.2 | |
| Wisconsin | 6.2 | |
| Vermont | 6.4 | |
| Idaho | 6.4 | Right to Work |
| Alabama | 6.7 | Right to Work |
| Pennsylvania | 6.7 | |
| Arizona | 6.9 | Right to Work |
| Massachusetts | 6.9 | |
| Minnesota | 6.9 | |
| Maine | 7.0 | |
| New York | 7.0 | |
| Connecticut | 7.1 | |
| New Jersey | 7.1 | |
| Washington | 7.1 |
(source: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 01/27/09; Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics; http://www.bls.gov/lau/)
According to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, there are 22 Right to Work states. Only 7 had unemployment rates above the national average, the rest were below as listed above.
| State | Unemployment Rate |
| Tennessee | 7.9 |
| Mississippi | 8.0 |
| Florida | 8.1 |
| Georgia | 8.1 |
| North Carolina | 8.7 |
| Nevada | 9.1 |
| South Carolina | 9.5 |
Source: National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, "Employees in Right to Work States http://www.nrtw.org/d/rtwempl.htm
