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Older photo of men holding signs on strike.
Labor Unions
  1. U.S. Labor Unions in the 1940s
  2. U.S. Unions in the Cold War
  3. Public worker unions in the United States
  4. Decline in Strike Activity in the US
  5. Union Membership Across the United States
  6. Right-to-Work Laws
  7. Types of Unions in the United States
  8. The AFL-CIO
  9. Labor Contracts in the United States
  10. Strikes in the United States
  11. What Happens During a Strike
  12. Long Strikes and Violence
  13. The 1964 Civil Rights Act
  14. Union Campaign Contributions and Political Influence
  15. Unions and Politics
  16. U.S. Unions in the 90s and Today
  17. Important U.S. Labor Leaders: George Meany
  18. Important U.S. Labor Leaders: John L. Lewis
  19. Important U.S. Labor Leaders: Walter Reuther
  20. Important U.S. Labor Leaders: A. Philip Randolph
  21. Important U.S. Labor Leaders: Jimmy Hoffa
  22. Important U.S. Labor Leaders: Caesar Chavez
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A young boy at a labor protest holds a sign
A young boy at a labor protest holds a sign showing his feeling on right to work laws.
Photo Courtesy of Bob Wood/International Association of Machinists.
Right-to-Work Laws
States with right-to-work laws have the lowest rate of union membership. Right-to-work laws mean that workers are not required to join a union after they are hired by a company. They have the choice to join or not. Companies that hire workers under right-to-work laws are called open shops. Workers save money by not joining a union because they do not have to pay union dues. On the other hand, wages are usually lower in open shops than they are in union shops. Labor unions in open shops are much weaker than labor unions in states with union shops. The lure of lower wages has prompted many companies to relocate from states that have union shops to states that have right-to-work laws. Click on Maps below for additional information on Right-to-Work Laws.
Special Terms: right-to-work laws  |  rate of union membership  |  open shops  |  union shops

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