Kentucky’s lightning-fast passage of a right-to-work law (Gov. Matt Bevin just signed it over the weekend) marks a milestone in the history of American labor law.
For the first time since Congress permitted right-to-work laws — and in fact, for the first time since FDR signed the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 — a majority of Americans now live under a right-to-work law.
The other day, Michael Barone pointed out that the 26 right-to-work states had enjoyed nearly twice as much population growth (6.2 percent) as the 24 other states and Washington D.C. But the numbers he gave for the 2016 populations were from before Kentucky switched sides. Between population growth and the addition of Kentucky and its 4.4 million residents, the balance of overall population has finally shifted to the right-to-work side.
As of today, based on the same July 2016 Census estimates, 161,773,444 Americans live in a right-to-work state. The other 161,354,069 live in states where workers can be forced to pay union dues as a condition of keeping their job.
