For many years, U.S. Labor Department data have shown that states with Right to Work laws on the books have far faster private-sector job growth than states that do not protect employees from federal policies authorizing the termination of workers for refusal to pay dues or fees to an unwanted union.

Between 1995 and 2005, private-sector jobs in Right to Work states increased by a net 20.2%. That’s a 79% greater increase than the relatively small increase in private-sector jobs experienced by non-Right to Work states over this period. (See the tables on pages three and four for details. Oklahoma, which adopted its Right to Work law in 2001, is excluded from this calculation.)

The Right to Work job-growth advantage becomes even more critical in times when the national economy is in a recession or struggling to recover from one. Over the 1995-2000 period, the crest of the “roaring nineties,” private-sector jobs in Right to Work states increased by 16.3%, 34% more than the concurrent increase in non-Right to Work states.

But over the five years from 2000 to 2005, private-sector jobs in forced-dues states did not increase at all. Instead, they decreased by 0.8%, with growth since 2002 insufficient to make up for the losses incurred during the recession of 2001. Meanwhile, private-sector jobs in Right to Work states increased by 3.3% between 2000 and 2005. (Oklahoma is again excluded.)

So Far, Jobs Recovery Has Been Extraordinarily Slow In Forced-Dues States

Moreover, the Right to Work job-growth advantage has continued to be unusually wide even since the nationwide recovery began to gather steam in 2003. Between 2003 and 2005, aggregate private-sector job growth in forced-dues states was just 2.3%. Meanwhile, private-sector jobs in Right to Work states increased by 4.9%, or roughly 120% more.

Federally-sanctioned forced union dues have predictable economic consequences. Among them are Big Labor’s use of rigid work rules and cultivation of the “hate the boss” mentality to cement its power over employees.

Right to Work laws protect the freedom of both private- and public-sector employees to keep and hold a job without forking over dues or fees to a union that is recognized as their “exclusive” (actually, monopoly) bargaining agent.

Unless they are protected by a state Right to Work law, independent-minded employees have no power to fight back against greedy and tyrannical union bosses by withholding their financial support. And when employees have no personal freedom of choice, union bosses have little incentive to tone down their class warfare. Employees are consequently far less likely to reach their full productive potential and reap the accompanying benefits.

That’s a key reason why not just the private-sector job index, but almost every economic indicator shows that forced union dues inhibit growth.

(For more detailed information about private-sector job growth in Right to Work and non-Right to Work states, see the two tables in the attached PDF.)