Barry W. Poulson, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Colorado, Boulder

Twenty-two states now have Right to Work laws. In these states employees do not have to financially support a union with monopoly bargaining privileges at their work place in order to keep their jobs. In states that do not have Right to Work laws, an employee of a unionized firm must financially support the union in order to get or keep his or her job. Individual employees in these states are coerced into paying union dues, regardless of whether they desire union representation. Union officials often defend this coercion on

A study prepared for the NILRR
by Carl F. Horowitz

The AFL-CIO’s massive lobbying and electioneering machine is now being challenged by a formidable PR problem: Its number one legislative objective is opposed by a majority of the union rank and file!

Union propaganda touts compulsory unionism as a “tonic” for a wide array of economic ills. But Kentucky workers are choking on this “tonic.”

A decade ago, the share of Kentucky private-sector employees who were compelled to accept a union as their “exclusive” bargaining agent in contract negotiations was equal to the national average. By 2003, the share of private-sector workers subject to union monopoly bargaining was 10% above the overall average.

The national AFL-CIO’s PR department, therefore, obviously has no interest in painting an unduly bleak picture of how Kentucky employees and their families are

by Carl F. Horowitz

Data Indicate Federal Labor Law Stunts Creation of Jobs Providing Coverage For Workers and Their Families

The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that, between 1987 and 2001, the portion of Americans covered by private health insurance fell from 75.5% to 70.9%.1 Had the public’s access to private health insurance held steady over the past decade and a half, an additional 13 million Americans would be privately insured today.

Apologists for federal and state laws that authorize the firing of employees for refusal to join or pay dues to a labor union typically assume that union affiliation should be a collective, rather than a personal, decision.

Under American traditions of limited government, the decision to contribute to a charity, a political campaign, or a single-issue lobbying organization is made individually or together with your spouse or solicitor. Your neighbors, fellow employees, or business associates may offer advice, but do not get a chance to vote on which private groups you support or don’t support.

by Nelson Lichtenstein Princeton University Press * 2002 * 336 pages * $29.95

Reviewed by Stanley Greer