How many states in the US have so called "Right to Work" laws on the books?

The current number is 22, primarily located in the Western and Southern areas of the country. Right to Work laws give workers the legal right to decline membership in any union that operates at their place of employment. In the other states, companies and unions can agree to operate as a "union shop," which requires all new employees to join the union after a minimum period after they are hired. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 included the provision for union shops. However, the Act also left open the potential for individual states to pass their own laws providing for "open shops," in which employees in that state are not required to to accept union membership and pay dues.

The topic is not only of general interest due to the potential impact on manufacturing and logistics costs in a given state, but more topically as well because the state of Michigan, dominated by the United Autoworkers Union for decades, has recently been embroiled in a debate by many lobbying to make the change to become a Right to Work state, in the hope of attracting more manufacturing jobs there.

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