Shock and Law: PoliticiansLabor’s 2011 political battles don’t end at the Beltway.

Anti-union forces are pushing bills and ballot measures to limit workers’ rights andcurb union power from Maine to Hawaii. They’re gunning not just for publicemployees but for workers across the board. Legislators are debating proposals toban collective bargaining for public employees, prohibit workers from choosingunion representation through card check, and much more. In Missouri a senatoreven proposed repealing the state’s child labor law.

Spreading the ‘Right to Work.’Twenty-two states, mostly in the South

and West, already have so-called “right towork” laws on the books, but since theNovember election they’ve been introducedin 12 more.

These laws prohibit unions from negoti-ating “closed shops” that require everyonein the bargaining unit to join the union.They also ban “fair share” or “agency”fees—particularly common in the publicsector—where non-members are required topay a portion of full dues to the union. Sincea recognized union must by law negotiatefor and represent everyone in the shop,members or not, such fees are seen as a “fairshare” for non-members to pay.

Conservatives say right to work attractsbusiness to the state, but workers in statesenjoying this “right” earn almost 15 percentless, are more likely to be uninsured, and are1.5 times as likely to die in a workplace acci-dent. Right-to-work states also have higherrates of poverty and infant mortality andspend about $2,500 per pupil less on educa-tion than other states.

Some are not satisfied with simply havingthe law on the books. In Iowa, conservativesare introducing measures that would placethe phrase “Iowa Is a Right to Work State”on all state vehicles, Department ofTransportation signs, and official tourismliterature.

Building Trades under the Gun.

Seven states have introducedmeasures to ban or repealProject Labor Agreements. APLA requires that a contractoron a publicly funded projectagree to meet wage and benefitschedules negotiated withunions.

Four states—including tradi-tional union strongholdsMichigan and New Jersey—have proposals to repeal prevail-ing wage laws, which requirecontractors working on publiclyfunded projects to pay the “pre-vailing wage” in the industry,usually defined as union scale.

Public Sector Workers Scapegoated.With state budgets in the red, instead of crafting legislative hand-

cuffs for the bankers and CEOs who caused the economic collapse,18 states have bills pending to shackle public sector workers. Theyinclude eliminating defined-benefit pensions, setting constitutionallimits on the size of the government workforce, and abolishing col-lective bargaining rights. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker eventhreatened to call out the National Guard if public sector workersresist his plan to take away collective bargaining.

s Push Anti-Worker Bills

Right to Work Proposals or Extensions

Attacks on the Building Trades

Restrictions on Public Sector Collective Bargaining