Right-to-work law provides that a person need not belong to a labor union to get or keep a job. It also provides that a person may not be denied a job because of union membership. More than half the states in the United States have such laws. Unions, which strongly oppose right-to-work laws, generally have little power in states with these laws.
Right-to-work laws have the effect of barring closed shop, union shop, and maintenance-of-membership agreements between employers and unions. In the closed shop, the employer can hire only members of the union. In the union shop, all employees must join the union after they have worked there for a certain period. Maintenance-of-membership clauses require that employees who are union members retain membership until the union contract expires.
