Bill seeks to amend N.C. Constitution to codify "right to work"

Last week, the General Assembly passed the first reading of a bill that may permanently put a right-to-work law into the North Carolina Constitution.

A right-to-work law makes it illegal for employers to require workers to join or maintain membership in a union when they are hired. It guarantees a person’s right to work, even if the individual doesn't want to join a union and pay dues.  

If passed, the bill will amend the N.C. Constitution to codify the right to work, making it more permanent. 

North Carolina has been a right-to-work state since 1947. Primary sponsors of the new bill, Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford), Rep. Kyle Hall (R-Forsyth, Stokes), Rep. Destin Hall (R-Caldwell, Watauga) and Rep. Larry Potts (R-Davidson) are seeking to further guarantee a person’s right to work.

A similar bill was drafted in 2021, but was not passed and did not leave the N.C. Senate rules committee.

“Someone’s ability to get a job or their right to work can’t be limited by their membership or refusal to join a labor organization,” Jennifer Standish, a doctoral candidate in the UNC History department, said.

Erik Gellman, a UNC history associate professor, said that, because the law has already been in place for 76 years, there is no need to further implement it into the constitution. 

“If it were enshrined in the state Constitution, that would simply mean that it would take an amendment to the Constitution to change that aspect of the law, rather than simply passing a new statute, amending the Constitution being more difficult than passing a statute,” George Leef, author of “Free Choice for Workers: A History of the Right to Work Movement,” said.

Leef also said the right-to-work laws act as an “escape hatch” for workers so they can avoid exclusive representation in the workplace and paying dues for causes they may not support.

Gellman said right-to-work laws take away workers’ abilities to bargain with their employers for benefits. Collective bargaining for public-sector employees is currently restricted in North Carolina.

"It's the called free-rider effect, the idea that it's really hard to unionize in a place where there's a law that says that if you're a worker, you don't have to join the union but you can still get benefits from it," he said. 

MaryBe McMillan, president of the N.C. State AFL–CIO, said that the “crazy thing” about this bill is that it would not affect workers at all. 

She said lawmakers should be more concerned about other pressing issues, such as funding for public schools and job creation. 

Michigan legislators repealed the state's right-to-work statute last month, making it the first state to repeal a right-to-work law since 1965. However, the Michigan law only applied to private employees. 

Following the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees ruled that requiring public employees to pay union fees without consent is unconstitutional. The decision also applies to labor laws in North Carolina. 

Second to South Carolina, North Carolina has the lowest union membership rate in the U.S. with less than three percent of workers participating in unions. Standish said the bill is a way for pro-corporate politicians to attract voters in the 2024 Labor Commissioner race. 

She also said the bill is intended to make it more difficult for right-to-work laws to be repealed if progressive politicians gain control of the legislature. 

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