Right-to-Work Laws a Boon to Manufacturing | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Brian Balfour.

    Right-to-Work laws, which simply state that employees can not be compelled to belong to or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment, are decidedly pro-worker and pro-growth. As a study recently released by the Locke Foundation reported, "States with right-to-work laws enjoy lower unemployment rates, higher job growth, and higher wage and income growth compared with forced union states."

    Even more recently, a study highlighted by the Wall Street Journal found that right-to-work is a magnet for manufacturing and construction jobs as well:

    "We found that states with right-to-work protections have a higher employment share in certain industries, such as manufacturing and construction, as a percentage of total private employment. Notably, states that have enacted these laws since 2000 have a 20.7% higher manufacturing share than they otherwise would without a right-to-work law."

    North Carolina's right-to-work law makes our state a more attractive location for job creators, and more importantly, provides essential protection to the rights of workers to work free from union coercion.

    Preserving this worker protection in the state's constitution would be a great way to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

    Moreover, right-to-work protections serve as a fair and more effective economic development policy than Gov. Cooper's preferred method of granting massive political privileges to select corporations.