WHEREAS, Wisconsin has recently become the 25th state to pass a right-to-work law, joining Michigan, Indiana and other states located mostly in the West and South; and

WHEREAS, the recent increase in the number of states adopting right-to-work laws results from a campaign funded by corporations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that aims to undermine unions’ ability to represent workers and advocate for economic and social justice; and

WHEREAS, right-to-work laws eliminate a long-held practice in American workplaces that workers represented by a union pay their fair share for the union’s representation and services even if the worker chooses not to become a member of the union; and

WHEREAS, eliminating the requirement that everyone represented by a union pays their fair share has the effect of weakening unions financially, lessening their ability to effectively represent workers or to bring social and economic change through advocacy; and

WHEREAS, right-to-work laws can further harm unions by causing divisions between those workers who fail to pay their fair share for the union’s services and members who pay their dues; and

WHEREAS, right-to-work laws are unjust because unions represent all workers in their bargaining units, not just those who become union members; and

WHEREAS, right-to-work laws are harmful to our country because strong unions benefit all working people — not just those they represent — by raising wages, improving benefits and ensuring safer workplaces; and

WHEREAS, research has found that people in right-to-work states earn 12 percent less and have worse healthcare and retirement benefits than workers in other states, showing that right-to-work laws in fact mean “right to work for less;” and, in addition, right-to-work states invest 31.3 percent less in elementary and secondary education than other states; and

WHEREAS, many states recognize the harm caused by such laws and have rejected right-to-work proposals, including Montana, New Hampshire, West Virginia, New Mexico and Maine; and

WHEREAS, lawmakers and the public need to understand how right-to-work laws are intended not only to weaken the trade union movement but to eliminate it as a viable force in our democracy; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the United Federation of Teachers strongly opposes right-to-work laws and will work with the American Federation of Teachers to fight against passage of such laws; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT will work with the American Federation of Teachers to urge the president and Congress to enact federal legislation requiring that workers who benefit from a union’s contract negotiations on their behalf must pay at least an agency fee to the union.