Southern "Right To Work" States

Public employees in 11 states—Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia—lack the right to bargain collectively with their employer. In Virginia and North Carolina, collective bargaining is banned outright. In the other states, local government workers can organize a union and, if they somehow convince their employer, sign a union contract. But there is no established method of organization, recognition, or contract enforcement, so public workers in those states have no recourse but their own militancy. In a total of 22 states, laws obstruct the right to organize by requiring unions to represent all workers whether or not they join the union and pay dues, depriving unions of the capacity or resources to win campaigns and contracts.62 These laws affect many Southern industries, such as catfish and poultry processing. They have a particular impact on people of color and women, because they are more likely to be paid less than their coworkers and are disproportionately employed in sectors regulated by the laws.

Wages and Hours. In 2009, average pay in right-to-work states was 11.1 percent lower than in states where workers have the freedom to form unions and to bargain collectively. In 2006, median weekly earnings for African Americans were 36 percent greater for unionized than for non-unionized workers; earnings were 8 percent greater for Asian-American union members and 46 percent greater for Hispanic union members.

Health and Safety. The rate of workplace deaths is consistently higher in right-to-work states. Workers' compensation benefits are also lower in these states. An investigation conducted in North Carolina by the International Commission for Labor Rights found systematic breaches of health and safety norms in public employment in that state.

Turnover. The North Carolina Office of State Personnel has estimated that "in FY 2005-2006, the State had a 10.8 percent turnover rate. Using a conservative 100 percent cost of turnover, the cost to the state would be approximately $362 million." This was for one category of about 90,000 state employees. When this figure is extrapolated to North Carolina's 511,000 full-time-equivalent public employees during the same period, the annual cost of turnover is more than $2 billion.

Discrimination. Both a state study and the investigation by the International Commission for Labor Rights point to significant levels of race and gender-based discrimination in hiring, discipline, pay and termination in North Carolina.

The United Workers Congress was formed to bring the human right to organize to life.

Tom's Story 

Photo Courtesy of Jobs with Justice

I am the President of United Campus Workers [UCW], which is made up of over 1,100 higher education employees on more than seven campuses across the state of Tennessee. UCW-CWA (Communications Workers of America) Local is a member of East Tennessee Jobs with Justice.

Our union, United Campus Workers-CWA Local 3865, has been organizing public higher- education workers in Tennessee for the last 10 years. UCW started out as a couple of dozen workers and students fighting for living wages for campus workers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We were not then, nor are we now, recognized by the university or the state as an official employee organization. Nevertheless, we have been able to build power for public workers through constant organizing within our union. We have had success winning decent pay raises, preventing layoffs and improving working conditions.

Although we have been organizing for over 10 years, we cannot bargain with our employer—the state of Tennessee. Our state is one of the many within the Southern region that has a right-to-work-for-less law, severely limiting our ability to form unions and negotiate for dignity and fairness at work.

Collective bargaining would mean a big change in the lives of average workers across Tennessee. It would mean the ability to negotiate contracts with decent wages and regular raises. It would mean a real voice in getting decent, affordable health care and a say in any changes our employers propose. Collective bargaining would mean a real, clear grievance procedure and a way to fight unfair firings and layoffs. It would give us increased power to fight harassment on the job and make sure everyone has a safe workplace. UCW is committed to winning collective bargaining for public workers in Tennessee.

We know that the National Labor Relations Act was the result of a strong labor movement fighting for rights, and was not the beginning of that movement. The men and women of the early unions organized because they knew the only way to win fair treatment and to protect their rights was by banding together to show management that a united workforce would not accept unfair treatment, low wages, and unsafe work conditions.

We in United Campus Workers can relate to those early organizers in many ways. In Tennessee, an "employment at will" state, the chances of public-sector employees getting a collective bargaining agreement in the near future may not be the greatest, but that does not mean we should not fight for our rights.

We cannot sit around and wait for someone to give us a contract. Instead we have to fight for strong public funding of higher education with real living wages for all employees!