right-to-work law, in the United States, any state law forbidding various union-security measures, particularly the union shop, under which workers are required to join a union within a specified time after they begin employment. The Taft–Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed not the union shop but the closed shop (which can hire union members only) everywhere in the United States. But section 14(b) of the act did encourage the passage of state right-to-work laws by allowing state laws against union-security measures to supersede the federal law.

The strongest support of right-to-work laws generally has come from small business; the 19 states with right-to-work laws in 1966 were concentrated in the South and West and did not include any major industrial state. Indiana was the only industrial state to pass a right-to-work law, but it repealed it in 1965.

Right-to-work laws have periodically become important political issues; in 1966 the Lyndon B. Johnson administration attempted to eliminate such laws by seeking repeal of section 14(b); the effort was thwarted in the Senate with a filibuster led by Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois.

Supporters of right-to-work laws maintain that they guarantee a person’s right to work without being forced to join a union. In addition, they argue that such laws do not weaken the bargaining power of unions but merely permit a worker to bargain on an individual basis if he so chooses. Opponents contend that the name right-to-work law is misleading because such laws do not guarantee employment to anyone. On the contrary, they maintain that such laws tend to reduce workers’ job security by weakening the bargaining power of unions.

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Utah Bans Collective Bargaining for Public Workers Feb. 16, 2025, 3:22 AM ET (New York Times)

collective bargaining, the ongoing process of negotiation between representatives of workers and employers to establish the conditions of employment. The collectively determined agreement may cover not only wages but hiring practices, layoffs, promotions, job functions, working conditions and hours, worker discipline and termination, and benefit programs.

Collective bargaining existed before the end of the 18th century in Britain; its development occurred later on the European continent and in the United States, where Samuel Gompers developed its common use during his leadership of the American Federation of Labor. Collective agreements are probably least significant in developing countries that have large labour populations from which to draw.

The degree of centralization in the bargaining process and the functions performed by collective agreements vary. Contract negotiation may occur at the national, regional, or local level, depending on the structure of industry within a country. National agreements, which are more common in smaller countries, usually settle general matters, leaving more detailed issues for local consideration. An agreement may, for example, set actual wage rates, or it might simply establish minimum wage rates.

National convention of the Women's Trade Union League
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labour economics: Effects of collective bargaining

Collective agreements are not legally binding in all countries. In Britain their application depends on the goodwill of the signatories. In some countries—including Germany, France, and Australia—the government may require that the terms of negotiated settlements be extended to all firms in an industry. In the United States similar results have been achieved, albeit less formally, by unions that select a target employer in a particular industry: the negotiation of a new agreement with the targeted employer then sets the pattern for other labour contracts in the same industry.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.
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