herblondness:

A more effective way for unions to draw support would be to respond directly to the claims leveled against them. For example, while right-to-work fans argue that unions increase unemployment, there’s a considerable body of evidence to suggest that they actually boost employment, as well as the average standard of living. According to Gordon Lafer, an associate professor at the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon, Oklahoma’s right-to-work policies resulted in a steady rise in unemployment, an average income drop of about $1,500, and skimpier benefits packages for workers. And the impact extends far beyond union members: A 2011 study by the left-leaning Center for American Progress showed that the ten states with the lowest union membership — North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas — also have the weakest middle classes. Conversely, where union wages increase, the study showed, so do non-union wages. (Read More.)