<P> "Right - to - work laws" are statutes in 27 U.S. states that prohibit union security agreements between companies and workers' unions . Under these laws, employees in unionized workplaces are banned from negotiating contracts which require all members who benefit from the union contract to contribute to the costs of union representation . </P> <P> According to the Legal Defense Foundation, right - to - work laws prohibit union security agreements, or agreements between employers and labor unions, that govern the extent to which an established union can require employees' membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment, either before or after hiring . Right - to - work laws do not aim to provide general guarantee of employment to people seeking work, but rather are a government ban on contractual agreements between employers and union employees requiring workers to pay for the costs of union representation . </P> <P> Right - to - work provisions (either by law or by constitutional provision) exist in 27 U.S. states, mostly in the southern and western United States, but also including the Midwestern states of Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin . Business interests represented by the United States Chamber of Commerce have lobbied extensively to pass right - to - work legislation . Such laws are allowed under the 1947 federal Taft--Hartley Act . A further distinction is often made within the law between people employed by state and municipal governments and those employed by the private sector, with states that are otherwise union shop (i.e., workers must pay for union representation in order to obtain or retain a job) having right to work laws in effect for government employees; provided, however, that the law also permits an "agency shop" where employees pay their share for representation (less than union dues), while not joining the union as members . </P>

How do right to work laws hurt unions