Worker Freedom in the 50 States: Jonathan Williams on American Radio Journal

In state capitals around the country, leaders are strengthening our nation’s economy and protecting individual liberty by protecting worker freedom. Work is critical to the American dream and the earned success and the dignity that can bring to all individuals.

The United States economy and the job market, which is a part of that, has become the envy of the world by unleashing competition in the free market and giving every American the ability to use their God-given talents to produce for themselves and others. Absent government interference, workers, families, and businesses are able to pursue the work arrangements that best work for them. Too often, when governments get in the way, however, they destroy voluntary work practices and decimate economic opportunity for those workers.

The recently released States That Work report from our organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council, provides a roadmap for labor policy across the states, looking at key policy variables. It shows which states support worker freedom and which others have pursued burdensome labor regulations.

One of the key policies in this report is what they call right to work. Those states with right-to-work laws give workers the fundamental choice if they would like to join a union. But in the states without these policies, workers are forced to join a union as a condition for their employment and pay dues to that union regardless of whether they believe the union is providing enough value for those dues that are paid.

So, what states lead the pack for worker freedom in our new ALEC report?

Arizona ranks as the top state for the second year running. The Grand Canyon State has the gold standard policy for universal recognition of occupational licenses. This addresses the all-too-common difficulties for workers moving into the state to obtain licenses for their profession. Arizona and other states address this by passing these universal recognition policies. They recognize that comparable licenses issued to individuals from other states.

Arizona has also led with a ban on a practice known as union release time. This practice allows government employees to perform work for unions while receiving pay and benefits for their taxpayer-funded jobs.

While Arizona continues to lead, other states are improving by enacting policy changes. Mississippi, for example, improved its ranking in this year’s edition of States That Work by becoming the fourth state to require secret ballot union elections for any company receiving economic development incentives from that state. Mississippi also now requires employee consent before workers’ contact information can be shared with unions.

These two measures represent protections for worker privacy. They ensure that workers in the Magnolia State can decide privately and free from outside influence as they decide whether they would like to be represented by a union or not.

In Oklahoma this summer, voters wisely rejected a ballot question that would have raised the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 per hour all the way up to $15 an hour by 2029, with automatic increases pushing it even higher after that. The measure threatened the state’s economic competitiveness by having the state intervene in the labor market and demand employers pay those higher wages instead of letting the market determine higher wages. A report from the NFIB explained the damage this would have done to the state’s economy. Oklahoma could have lost 16,000 jobs and $700 million in economic output by 2035, with 60% of those losses coming from small businesses.

The new ALEC report on state worker freedom also recognized one of the most important labor reforms passed in decades: Wisconsin’s Act 10, which was enacted now 15 years ago and signed into law by former Governor Scott Walker.

Among other pro-taxpayer reforms, Act 10 eliminated mandatory union deductions from government paychecks and required public sector unions to hold annual recertification votes. Before Wisconsin Act 10 was enacted, the state faced a 3.6 billion dollar budget deficit.

By enacting this incredible pro-taxpayer legislation, Wisconsin taxpayers saved over 30 billion dollars now in these 15 years, authority over public schools and local government operations was returned to the leaders elected by taxpayers, ensuring those organizations serve the people of the state. It also began to align government worker retirement and healthcare contributions with workers in the private sector.

Now 15 years later, Act 10 continues to deliver savings for Wisconsin taxpayers and ensures that worker freedom and proper accountability in government continue.

As these and other states show, worker freedom is essential for economic freedom. It is the free market economy that has built unparalleled wealth for American workers through power. Policies like these, states can protect worker choices and strengthen economic prosperity for all.