@053 CHAP ZZ

        ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
        ³ THE "UNION SHOP" AND STATE RIGHT-TO-WORK LAWS ³
        ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

The National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), a federal law
that has governed labor union/management disputes since
the days of FDR and the New Deal, generally makes it il-
legal for a company to require that a person be a member
of a labor union before he or she can be hired as an em-
ployee.  Thus, the so-called "closed shop" has been il-
legal under federal law for many years.

However, a "union shop" contract between a company and a
union is still permitted under the NLRA.  A "union shop"
is, in simple terms, a situation where a person can be
hired by a company without first being a union member, but
is required, under the collective bargaining agreement
between the company and the union, to become a member of
the union (usually within 30 days after becoming employed),
in order to remain an employee.  A similar arrangement that
is also acceptable under the NLRA is an "agency shop" ag-
reement, which provides that an employee need not join the
union, but still must pay dues to the union in order to
remain an employee.

But the NLRA provides that a state, if it wishes to provide
stricter limitations on mandatory union membership and
mandatory union dues payments, may prohibit such "union
shop" or "agency shop" agreements, as a matter of state law.
To date, 21 states have enacted such "right-to-work" laws,
which all guarantee, at a minimum, that no person may be
denied employment for refusal to join a union.  A number
of such laws also prohibit mandatory payment of union dues
by non-union workers in order to retain employment (banning
the so-called "agency shop," as well as the "union shop").

Many employers consider states which have "right-to-work"
laws to be advantageous places to locate businesses, since
unions have a much tougher time organizing workers where
they are prohibited from creating "union shop" situations.
Thus, in recent years, many firms have relocated in states
that have such right-to-work laws, which tend to be Sunbelt
states in the South and the West or Midwest.  It is no ac-
cident that most of the fastest growing states in the U.S.
in recent decades, such as Nevada, Florida, and Arizona,
are all "right-to-work" states, and thus very attractive
to industry.

None of the larger, heavily industrialized and unionized
states, such as New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
California, etc., has a right-to-work law.

@CODE: AL AZ AR FL GA ID IA KS LA MS NB NV NC ND SC SD TN TX UT VA WY
@STATE is one of the 21 states that has a Right-to-
Work law at present.
@CODE:EN
@CODE: DC
Washington, D.C. does not have a Right-to-Work law.
@CODE:EN
@CODE: NY MI PA OH CA
@CODE:EN
At present, @STATE does not have a Right-to-Work law.