With West Virginia poised to become the nation's 26th right-to-work state, the Mackinac Center’s Director of Labor Policy F. Vincent Vernuccio and Michigan Capitol Confidential reporter Jason Hart co-authored an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The piece explains worker freedom and details how it has improved quality of life in other states:

Right-to-work has helped other states. They have higher wage growth, more job growth, higher population growth and historically lower unemployment. Almost all right-to-work states have lower workplace injury rates than West Virginia, too.

Right-to-work can even strengthen unions. How is that? It makes them more responsive to members because they now cannot take forced dues for granted. Instead, they need to earn the voluntary support of their members by becoming better.

Indiana is one example of this dynamic. In 2014 Indiana tied for the state with the most new union members when it added 50,000 new dues-paying members.

The West Virginia AFL-CIO says right-to-work will mean pay cuts for workers; union officials in Indiana and Michigan said the same, but average wages increased in both states after they implemented right-to-work.

West Virginia could soon join the ranks of these states and others that allow workers the freedom to choose whether or not they will join a union.

Read the op-ed in its entirety at the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

Additionally, Vernuccio joined "Decision Makers" on WOWK out of Charleston to discuss West Virginia's prospects as a right-to-work state:

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