Making it harder for unions to recruit new members is likely a part of the state Republican legislative agenda. Although Republicans, including Scott Walker, avoided the term "right-to-work" during the campaign, Democrats fear the emboldened GOP majorities will make it a part of their pro-business platform in the coming months.
Under right-to-work statutes, employers are forbidden from entering "closed shop" agreements with employees, which make membership in a union a requirement for all employees.
Currently, Iowa is the only right-to-work state in the Midwest, a region in which unions have traditionally been key players economically and politically. However, as this piece in the conservative American Thinker shows, Republicans are hopeful that takeovers of legislatures across the Rust Belt could dramatically shift the trend this year.
Although unions and Democrats will likely be united in opposition to right-to-work legislation, it is unclear what position the public will take on the issue. With union membership at all-time lows, I am guessing the public would likely support the change, although I have not seen any polls to prove it.
Interestingly, as many libertarians will tell you, right-to-work is an inherently anti-free market policy, which hinders the right of workers and management to negotiate contracts. However, it has effectively been messaged as a free market mechanism.
