RIGHT-TO-WORK Definition & Meaning

right-to-work

[ rahyt-tuh-wurk ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

being or relating to legislation that prohibits employers from forcing employees to join a union or pay dues to a union if they are not a member of that union:
The organization spearheaded right-to-work campaigns and worked to pass anti-strike laws in four states.
Organized labor activists made demands to repeal right-to-work laws.

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of right-to-work¹

First recorded in 1890–95, for an earlier sense; 1920–25, for the current sense

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Yvette Cooper has announced plans to expand the range of companies that can be fined for not carrying out right-to-work checks on casual workers.

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First elected to office in 2018, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hospitality fortune seemed an unlikely figure of progressive hope — and yet, within months of his inauguration, Pritzker signed bills to raise the minimum wage to $15, legalize the recreational use of marijuana, ban so-called "right-to-work" laws designed to hobble trade unions and codify abortion protections into state law.

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A right-to-work status is not required to apply for this grant.

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Among other provisions, the act would override state right-to-work laws, racist and anti-union statutes that are common in southeastern and heartland states.

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Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., for example, says he wants to know how a Trump labor secretary could justify voting for "Democrat legislation" and whether she still believes state right-to-work laws — which undercut unions by allowing workers to reap the benefits of organized labor without paying any dues — should be preempted by federal legislation.

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