Are wages lower in a right-to-work state?
Alabama politicians love to tout that Alabama is a right-to-work state when it comes to luring large corporations and businesses to the state. Even many workers are lured into a false impression that right-to-work laws are a good thing for workers, especially non-unionized workers. The term itself, right-to-work, gives a feeling of giving you the right to work. Yay! You can't stop me from working. The fact of the matter is, a careful study by Lonnie K. Stevans of Hofstra University says, "Findings are that the number of businesses and self-employed are greater on average in right-to-work states, but employment, wages, and per-capita personal income are all lower on average in right-to-work states."[1] In short, right-to-work law is good for business, but not so much the worker.
[1] Stevans, Lonnie K., The Effect of Endogenous Right-to-Work Laws on Business and Economic Conditions in the United States: A Multivariate Approach (November 6, 2007). Review of Law and Economics, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 595-614, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1027987
"... JEFFERSON COUNTY - AL - The U.S. Postal Service's Alabama District is selling envelopes to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march for civil rights. ..."
