What is a right to work (or right-to-work?) state? That phrase has been in the news around here lately because the Indiana state government is addressing either making or not making Indiana a right to work state. I don't really get it although I know it has something to do with labor unions. Up in Wisconsin people are signing petitions to have their governor recalled. They just had big legislation up there with labor unions.

Should you belong to a labor union if you have a government job? When I was a temp nurse in the Cook County health care system, the RNs were unionized under the Illinois Nurses Association. They had strict rules for nurse to patient ratios, overtime, new hire orientation, assignments, breaks, uniforms, holidays - you name it, they had a rule for it. Those nurses made big bucks and they worked a lot of overtime. And every nurse had been there for a long time.

When I worked for the auto mechanics' union welfare fund, you didn't have to join the union - but the union was providing benefits to the fund office employees, so if I wanted health and dental coverage, I had to sign up and pay dues, which in turn paid for the benefits. The cool part of that job was that they had a yearly car show because a lot of the members were car enthusiasts. They also had a motorcycle ride for cancer-- which started at one of the dealerships and ended at a huge forest preserve, where there was a picnic, games for kids, volleyball and fun. You could just come to the picnic if you weren't a motorcyclist, and there was a car pool from the office.