A National Right to Work Law?

Senator Jim DeMint (R SC) has proposed passing a national right to work law. Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney have said they both support it. This is, of course, a reaction to the Boeing case where the NLRB has issued a complaint against the company for building a second Dreamliner production line in South Carolina allegedly because the Machinists' union engaged in strikes in Washington State where the company had announced the expansion would be located. For a small government Party, the Republicans are awful quick to federalize certain issues which advance their agenda. Unions do the same thing (see EFCA). Under current law, states have the right to choose whether they permit an agency shop or not. An agency shop is one where a company and a union can agree that the employees are required to join the union. Federal law also says such arrangements cannot require actual membership in a union, only that an objecting worker pay partial dues attributable to the unions collective bargaining services. In the 22 right to work states, unions and employers are not permitted to require union membership, or any payment in lieu thereof, as a condition of employment.