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Beginning in 2012, several states enacted right-to-work laws, which hamper the ability of labor unions to collect agency fees to finance union services and activities. Because the processes by which these adoptions took place are arguably exogenous, identification of the causal effect of right-to-work on unionization within a state becomes possible. The author uses a set of semi-independent cross-sections drawn from the Current Population Survey for years 2000 to 2018 to investigate the impact of right-to-work on the probability of unionization in the five states that adopted it after 2011. The empirical analysis reveals an economically meaningful and statistically significant adverse effect from right-to-work adoption on union density that is distinct from other factors influencing unionization during that time period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attacks on union finances are intensifying. These assaults, which come in various forms, have the potential to jeopardize the current systems of labor relations in the United States in both private and public sectors. This essay analyzes what might happen if the challenges are successful. Unions may shrink further in size or power, or alternatively, respond to new conditions in ways that strengthen them. Removal of union security might prompt legal change such as elimination of the duty of fair representation, elimination of the system of exclusive representation, or permitting the union to charge nonmembers for actual representation. These changes, if they occur, will be disruptive although they might result in a system more suited to today's workplace. Regardless of the immediate outcome, it seems certain that labor-management conflict will not be eliminated, though it may be diverted for a time or changed in form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The obligation to accommodate workers with disabilities, due to significant developments in case law, has gained importance in Québec, such that the role of trade unions has evolved in the context of these changes. Unions are faced with a change in their role that is imposed, that provides them with powerful tools to demand measures to facilitate the integration and retention of employees with disabilities, but that also creates a situation where union representatives have to arbitrate conflicting interests among their members. This text explains the role of unions in this new dynamic in labour relations, and discusses the limitations in trade union action with respect to the duty to accommodate persons with disabilities.

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