“These laws are sold with the same rationale used to keep minimum wages down,” Heidi Shierholz, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, tells Rolling Stone. “The corporations and lawmakers say, ‘These institutions are all hamstringing our economy. If we unwind these things, we’re going to unleash growth. Everyone will be better off.’” What happens instead, as EPI and others have exhaustively documented, is the exact opposite: Wages drop, unions are starved and “you actually reduce the economic activity in the state,” says Shierholz. “When you have middle-class people making less money, they’re paying less taxes, and they’re spending less. Higher unionization helps the entire fiscal situation in a state.”
Rolling Stone
August 9, 2018
Designed to undermine the ability of unions to organize workers, to collectively bargain and to engage in politics on behalf of economic and social justice, right-to-work measures are really “right-to-work-for-less” laws. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “These bills won’t lead to more manufacturing plants or better jobs or anything good. They lead only to weaker unions, less bargaining power for [workers], and lower wages. Wages are 3.1 percent lower in so-called ‘right to work’ (RTW) states, for union and nonunion workers alike—after correctly accounting for differences in cost of living, demographics, and labor market characteristics. The negative impact of RTW laws translates to $1,558 less a year in earnings for a typical full-time worker.”
The Nation
August 9, 2018
These laws, which have been adopted in 27 states, leave private-sector unions with less financial resources for collective bargaining, limit their power, and tend to be favored by conservative legislators. A 2015 study from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C., found that wages in right-to-work states tended to lag 3.1% behind pay in states where unions can collect dues from all employees.
Fast Company
August 9, 2018
Janelle Jones, an analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, told the Washington Post that the results of the vote could have long-term political consequences. “We are seeing an attack on unions being sustained all over the place—the courts, private employers, the administration,” Jones said. “This vote could represent the pendulum swinging back to workers and away from corporate interests.”
Rewire
August 9, 2018
According to the Economic Policy Institute, there isn’t substantial evidence to suggest any causal pattern of economic indicators improving or declining in states with right-to-work laws. Although a 2007 study found that these laws can increase the number of businesses in a state, the study stated that the findings do not mean non-unionized workers will benefit in any real way with higher wages, employment, or per-capita personal income.
Think Progress
August 9, 2018
Had Missouri’s law been upheld, an estimated 60,000 fewer workers could have been represented by unions, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. The resulting loss of dues would have made it more difficult for unions, which typically support Democratic candidates, to contribute to political campaigns and to organize more workers.
Reuters
August 9, 2018
The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute estimates that workers in states with such laws make 3.1 percent less than those that do not have the law. Pro-union groups say that the vote would mean a swing back to workers away from corporate interests, moving forward. “This is the first major fight over [right-to-work] since the Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME in June which, overturning 40 years of precedent, barred state and local government unions from requiring workers who benefit from union representation to pay their fair share of that representation,” the institute said in a statement. “By rejecting Proposition A, Missourians have struck a much needed blow for working people.”
Law.com
August 9, 2018
“We know from the experiences of 27 states, including many of Missouri’s neighbors, that ‘right to work’ laws don’t spur investment or create jobs,” the Economic Policy Institute said in a statement. “They do, however, undercut unions, lower wages, and weaken workers’ bargaining power. In fact, that is the whole reason for the enormous corporate interest in ‘right to work’…. By letting people get the benefits of union representation at no cost, ‘right to work’ undercuts unions’ ability to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”
Labor Press
August 9, 2018
Black women have to work an extra eight months to make the same wages as white male counterparts made in 2017, meaning that Aug. 7 was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. Black women made an average of 66 cents on the dollar paid to white men in 2017, regardless of education, experience and location, according to a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. (Valerie quoted throughout, chart embedded)
CNBC
August 9, 2018
Janelle Jones, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) who conducts research for EPI’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, shared insights with The Women’s Foundation of Colorado to help our supporters understand this disparity; how it affects black women, their families, and Colorado’s economy; and what we can do to pay black women fairly. (Interview with Janelle)
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado
August 9, 2018