One of the strongest arguments against Right to Work legislation is that such laws exasperates the “free rider” problem. In the context of unions, a free rider is an employee who pays no union dues or agency shop fees, but nonetheless receives the same benefits of union representation as dues-payers. While this concern should not override an employee’s right of free association, it was a concern that, I had always thought was worth taking seriously.
But yesterday I discovered that there is no free rider problem unless a union explicitly chooses to create free riders.
Policy wonk extraordinaire Reihan Salam pointed out a helpful explanation by James Sherk:
Read more on Right to Work and the Free Rider Myth…
