Right to work

About

In the United States, the phrase "right to work" is most commonly the descriptive part of the phrase right to work law, which is any law that prevents employers from agreeing to require labor union involvement as a condition of employment.

Analysis

Taken at face value, the phrase "right to work" refers to the idea that employees should have the individual right to be employed. "Right to work laws" do not actually guarantee any such thing, so even at face value the phrase implies a falsehood.

As an argument for anti-union laws, the phrase is a form of interpretive framing in that it focuses on the possession of a job as the goal, while ignoring the fact that unions generally have a positive effect on other significant factors such as working conditions and salary.

In effect, it presumes that a "right to employment" – something that many supporters of "right to work laws" are actually against, although internationally it is considered a basic human right – is somehow more important than a "right to a decent living", which is the primary reason for having a job and arguably something that should actually be a right.

Usage

• This page (right to work) is about the concept behind right to work laws in the United States.
• Internationally, the same phrase more commonly refers to a right of employment.

Quotes

In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining... We demand this fraud be stopped.

— Martin Luther King, Jr. (Source: thinkexist.com)

Links

Reference

• Wikipedia: see Right-to-work law
• Conservapedia
• dKosopedia: no information as of 2012-12-08
• SourceWatch: no information as of 2012-12-08