California Right to Work: State Status and Union Rules

California lacks a right-to-work law, so private employers may require union membership or dues as hiring conditions. See California’s rules, failed initiatives, and how they differ from right-to-work states.

By Brad Nakase, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. California Right-to-work

3. Is there one in California?

4. States having the right to work

5. How about employers who are public?

6. Right-to-work: Benefits & Drawbacks

7. Right-to-work vs at-will dismissal

Introduction

California does not follow “right to work.” Requiring workers to pay union dues or join a union is illegal according to state laws. In California, attempts to enact such laws have been unsuccessful.

Therefore, if you want to get hired or retain your employment, private California employers could ask that you join a union.

California Right-to-work

The California right-to-work law prohibits employers from requiring union membership as an employment condition. This does not allow employers to treat workers unfairly in case they do not want to join a union or do not want to pay dues.

You can decline to pay dues or join a union in states with right-to-work legislation without worrying about losing your position or not being hired.

Your employer may require membership in a union or dues contributions as a requirement of employment in states without a right-to-work statute. You risk being fired or not given a job opportunity if you don’t join or pay dues.

Is there one in California?

There isn’t a California right-to-work law. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to establish California as a state with a right-to-work law. Companies and private employers may demand that you pay dues or become a member of a labor union. However, a ruling by the US Supreme Court prohibits governmental entities from doing it.

In the year 2012, a bill that was like the California right-to-work was put to a vote. The so-called Paycheck Protection, also referred to as proposition 32, would have outlawed unions from using the money they collected out of the paychecks of dues payers to make political contributions. It was defeated by a massive majority of 56.6 to 43.4, and its percentage was not reflected in California employment legislation.

States having the right to work

There are right-to-work laws in significantly over fifty percent of the states in the United States. These consist of:

Alabama,
Arkansas,
Arizona,
Georgia,
Florida,
Indiana,
Idaho,
Kansas,
Iowa,
Louisiana,
Kentucky,
Nebraska,
Mississippi,
North Carolina,
Nevada,
Oklahoma,
North Dakota,
South Dakota,
South Carolina,
Texas,
Tennessee,
Virginia,
Utah,
West Virginia,
Wyoming, and
Wisconsin

How about employers who are public?

The federal law does not permit employers in the government to request union membership and dues payments. This applies to employees of the state/local governments in California.

The United States Supreme Court (2018) found that the demand that non-members should pay agency fees violated the free speech right (First Amendment of the United States Constitution).

Compared to full union fees, these agency costs were lower. The union was only permitted to use them for costs associated with collective bargaining. The union was not allowed to use them for its political operations. The Supreme Court did, however, decide that this amounted to forced political expression by non-members. According to the Court, this was against the Constitution.

All unions and workers in the public sector are covered by the case. This comprises:

California State,
County administrations, such as Orange County,
Local administrations, such as the City of Los Angeles,
Other local government organizations.

Right-to-work: Benefits & Drawbacks

Unions and employees resist California right-to-work laws, whereas companies support them.

California right-to-work advocates contend that they:

Grant employees the freedom to decide whether to pay dues or join a union without affecting their chances of finding employment,
Prohibit excessive coercion by unions to acquire members or funds,
Prevent dues payers or non-union members from allocating their funds to political causes with which they disagree, and
Minimize corruption by making it harder for unions to fund political campaigns and then reap the rewards when their candidate wins office and awards them government contracts.

Lawmakers who oppose California’s right-to-work legislation contend that they:

Are essentially made to dismantle unions by establishing “free loaders,” who profit from bargaining agreements and safety at work advocacy, while not having to shell out the dues required to fund the union, respectively, and
By diminishing union activity, lower salaries and protections for both union and non-union workers have been achieved over time.

Right-to-work vs at-will dismissal

It’s quite common to mistake right-to-work laws for at-will employment or firing. But the ideas are completely unrelated to one another:

Mandatory union membership is prohibited as an essential requirement of employment by right-to-work laws.
“At-will” employment is subject to termination for any cause at any point by either side.

Montana is the only state that does not assume an at-will employment arrangement.

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California Right to Work: State Status and Union Rules

Introduction

California Right-to-work

Is there one in California?

States having the right to work

How about employers who are public?

Right-to-work: Benefits & Drawbacks

Right-to-work vs at-will dismissal

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