House Republicans introduce national “Right-to-Work” bill

Representatives Steve King (R, IA-04) and Joe Wilson (R, SC-02) have introduced new legislation that would extend so-called “right-to-work” legislation to all 50 states.

Such legislation is already on the books in 27 states. Kentucky became the most recent state to implement the law on Jan. 7 of this year. “Right-to-work” laws end union security agreements, which are agreements between employers and unions that establish membership and/or payment of union dues as a condition of employment.

Reps. King and Wilson introduced a similar bill in 2015, but it went nowhere.

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A national right-to-work law would almost certainly make it harder for unions to gain new members and collect dues by making union membership voluntary for millions of people. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, American union membership is already at a historic low; just 11.1 percent of the workforce is made up of working union members, and most of them are public sector, not private sector, members.

Donald Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, has not publicly commented on American right-to-work laws. His positions against the $15 minimum wage and Barack Obama’s overtime law suggest he’d support national right-to-work legislation.