Right to Work: Still Right for New Mexico: New Research Confirms Labor Reform’s Value in Economic Development

(Albuquerque) – A new analysis finds that right-to-work (RTW) states excel at creating quality jobs, and if New Mexico’s policymakers want the state to escape its severe economic woes, repealing compulsory unionism is essential.

“Where the (Good) Jobs Are: A New Look at Right to Work and Employment Growth,” authored by Rio Grande Foundation Research Director Dowd Muska, finds that RTW states far outpace their compulsory-union competitors in creating middle- and high-wage employment.

Muska’s research examined job-creation announcements posted on the website of the publication Area Development between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015. Positions were in manufacturing, finance, IT, biotech, research & development, business services, and logistics.

“These are the kinds of jobs that would make New Mexico a more prosperous state,” Muska said. “And they’re the kinds of jobs that politicians’ current economic-development strategies are not producing.”

Of the 92,923 jobs examined in the study, 79.2 percent were slated to be created in RTW states – a sum, not surprisingly, far in excess of the 46.8 percent of private-sector jobs found in RTW states. Both domestic and foreign firms prefer RTW states, and companies that relocate their facilities from one type of state to another overwhelmingly prefer to move to locations where labor freedom is respected.

Right-to-work laws, which were first adopted in the 1940s, free employees from paying compulsory dues to union coffers. Site-selection experts quoted in “Where the (Good) Jobs Are” argue that RTW is a requirement for many businesses looking to site, expand, or relocate their operations. The Rio Grande Foundation’s new research confirms their claim.

“Our organization has long argued that RTW is right for New Mexico,” said Rio Grande Foundation President Paul Gessing. “This new research offers more evidence of a trend that’s been underway for many decades: Right-to-work states outperform compulsory-union states.”

While a RTW bill passed New Mexico’s House of Representatives earlier this year, and Governor Susana Martinez pledged to sign the bill, the legislation did not receive a vote in the state’s Senate. RTW supporters are sure to press for the law in future sessions.

“Where the (Good) Jobs Are” is linked here and can be downloaded from the Rio Grande Foundation’s website, www.riograndefoundation.org.