Forced Union Dues Are ‘Economically Loony’

According to the 17th edition of Rich States, Poor States, a survey of state economic policies, past performance, and future prospects published this April, every single one of the 15 top-ranking states for “economic outlook” has a Right to Work law. 

This survey is prepared by economists Arthur Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Jonathan Williams, and published by the Crystal City, Va.-based American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). […]

National Right to Work Committee Vice President Matthew Leen observed that one important reason for Right to Work states’ economic dominance is surely that business-bashing union officials do not have such an extraordinarily outsized influence over public policies in those states.

“Wherever Big Labor is endowed with forced-dues privileges,” observed Mr. Leen, “it funnels a large share of the loot extracted from workers into efforts to elect and reelect politicians who support higher taxes, more government spending, and straitjacket regulation of business. 

As Rich States, Poor States shows, all of these union boss-favored public policies are negatively correlated with job and income growth and economic health. 

NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK COMMITTEE