right to work means you can have a job in a union shop without joining the union.
My grandpa was a snow plow driver for the state of MN (retired sometimes in the 1990s), but as a republican was always opposed to the union. He still paid union dues, but they were reduced and kept in a separate fund by the union and only used for contract negotiations (important for him - he was a big republican and the union political funds of course donates to democrats). Since he wasn’t a member of the union he couldn’t vote on union leadership, but the leadership called him one of their best people there because he always attended the union meetings where contacts were discussed. As you can start to see not being a union member when there is a union is really complex weird. I’m sure there is more about this that I don’t know about (one obvious thing - what if they voted to go on strike)
I’m a union organizer, and by coincidence I live in MN, so this is my bread and butter.
You pretty much nailed it, with the only exception that right-to-work laws allow everyone in the workplace, even members, to avoid paying dues entirely. As the map shows, MN is not one of those states though. We have different terms in organizing circles. We call states with right-to-work “free rider” states, and those without are called “fair share” states.
Every union decides how they want to handle nonmembers outside of their legal obligations. My union is CWA, we don’t allow nonmembers to have any say at all on union matters. This means no input on the bargaining survey, no bargaining update emails, no electing the executive board, no voting on the contract, no participation in committees, no admittance to most meetings, etc.
one obvious thing - what if they voted to go on strike
In both cases, regardless of free rider laws, nonmembers are not entitled to the strike fund. The dues equivalency your grandpa paid excluded the few cents for the strike fund and a few other union governance things like that. However, they can still participate in the strike.
Honestly, it’s hard to say. I think it’s quite possible, however there’s a surprising twist with the upcoming admin: the nominee to chair the NLRB isn’t shit and has an outstandingly ok labor record as a Republican.
Edit: fwiw I know exactly how much that actually means. It just means we might get some weak pushback against the destruction of the NLRB, but the labor movement has worked with less.
right to work means you can have a job in a union shop without joining the union.
My grandpa was a snow plow driver for the state of MN (retired sometimes in the 1990s), but as a republican was always opposed to the union. He still paid union dues, but they were reduced and kept in a separate fund by the union and only used for contract negotiations (important for him - he was a big republican and the union political funds of course donates to democrats). Since he wasn’t a member of the union he couldn’t vote on union leadership, but the leadership called him one of their best people there because he always attended the union meetings where contacts were discussed. As you can start to see not being a union member when there is a union is really complex weird. I’m sure there is more about this that I don’t know about (one obvious thing - what if they voted to go on strike)
I’m a union organizer, and by coincidence I live in MN, so this is my bread and butter.
You pretty much nailed it, with the only exception that right-to-work laws allow everyone in the workplace, even members, to avoid paying dues entirely. As the map shows, MN is not one of those states though. We have different terms in organizing circles. We call states with right-to-work “free rider” states, and those without are called “fair share” states.
Every union decides how they want to handle nonmembers outside of their legal obligations. My union is CWA, we don’t allow nonmembers to have any say at all on union matters. This means no input on the bargaining survey, no bargaining update emails, no electing the executive board, no voting on the contract, no participation in committees, no admittance to most meetings, etc.
In both cases, regardless of free rider laws, nonmembers are not entitled to the strike fund. The dues equivalency your grandpa paid excluded the few cents for the strike fund and a few other union governance things like that. However, they can still participate in the strike.
That’s great insight from someone on the ground with type of stuff. Do you think the GOP is gonna attempt to do it Federally again?
Honestly, it’s hard to say. I think it’s quite possible, however there’s a surprising twist with the upcoming admin: the nominee to chair the NLRB isn’t shit and has an outstandingly ok labor record as a Republican.
Edit: fwiw I know exactly how much that actually means. It just means we might get some weak pushback against the destruction of the NLRB, but the labor movement has worked with less.