Definition:
The concept of Right to work is related to whether or not an employee must join a union. With the passage of the 1947 Taft Hartley Act (the National Labor Relations Act), states could decide whether they wanted to be:
- Closed Shops
An employee in a company with a union must join the union and pay dues,
- Open Shop
An employee in a company with a union does not have to join the union or pay dues, but is still considered part of the bargaining unit.
- Agency Shop
An employee in a company with a union must pay does but is not otherwise subject to the union
States that have open shops are considered "right to work" states, because employees have a right to work, even if they don't join the union.
The Department of Labor has a list of right to work states (Attachment 1) showing which have "right to work" statutes and which don't.
