Right-to-Work Laws, Explained

Anti-union laws are spreading to new states. But do voters know what right-to-work really means?

—By Nicole Pasulka | Fri Mar. 16, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

On Wednesday the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a right-to-work law, returning the issue to Democratic Gov. John Lynch's desk for the second time in two years. The bane of organized labor for over half a century, right-to-work laws regained momentum in the United States after Republicans won historically sweeping victories on the state level in the 2010 midterm elections. In February, Indiana became the first state in a decade—and the first Rust Belt state—to enact one of the laws.