For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 7, 2011
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810
Evidence from recent studies confirms RTW law likely to harm New Hampshire
In a new Economic Policy Institute report, political economist Gordon Lafer provides an overview of new evidence that right-to-work (RTW) laws have failed as economic development strategies and would likely harm New Hampshire. Right to Work: A Failed Policy, A New Hampshire Update strengthens the findings of “Right-to-Work” wrong for New Hampshire, an analysis of why RTW was particularly unsuited to New Hampshire that EPI released in April 2011.
New evidence confirming the harm that RTW has caused to state economies includes:
• A 2012 study by economists from the University of Nevada and Claremont McKenna College estimates that the damage RTW inflicts on nonunion employees is greater than earlier research suggested.
• A recent survey of manufacturers found that RTW status has fallen (to 16th place) in the list of factors influencing location decisions.
• An Oklahoma think tank that promoted the adoption of a RTW law reported that the state has in fact lost manufacturing jobs and become a next job exporter in the years since.
• A new study finds that workplaces in the construction industry are less safe in RTW states than in non-RTW states.
• Recent unemployment data show that New Hampshire continues to outperform RTW states.
• Recent data on unemployment, poverty, and business openings show that New Hampshire far outpaces South Carolina on all three factors, although the “South Carolina Model” of economic development—of which RTW is a major component—has been touted for its “pro-employment policies.”
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