The legal mechanics
The 1947 Taft-Hartley Act lets unions and employers sign union-security agreements, which require covered employees to become members or pay fees within 30 days of hire. The same law lets states ban those agreements. Where a state has, the NLRB says each employee decides whether to join and pay dues, and the union still represents everyone covered by the contract.
The count has changed recently. The NLRB's own page still says 27 states. Michigan's repeal took effect in February 2024, and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation's list now shows 26 states plus Guam. When you need a firm answer for a specific state, check that state's labor department.
What it means for a film production
Many of the biggest US production hubs outside California and New York are right-to-work states: Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Nevada, Utah, and others. The tax incentives guide shows how many of them overlap with major credit programs.
On the ground, a signatory production in Atlanta works under the same SAG-AFTRA and IATSE agreements it would use elsewhere, with rates and terms set by the agreement. What differs is the membership side. A crew member or performer who takes a union job in a right-to-work state generally can't be compelled to join or pay fees by that job. That's why the SAG-AFTRA must-join concept plays out differently there, and why the union publishes separate guidance for performers in states like Arizona, Utah, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
Common confusions
Right-to-work doesn't mean non-union. Plenty of union production happens in these states, and union members there still follow their union's rules, including SAG-AFTRA's Global Rule One.
It also isn't the same as financial core. Fi-core is a federal option for workers anywhere covered by a union-security agreement. Right-to-work is a state ban on those agreements.
Where the work happens matters more than where the worker lives, but the rules get complicated for performers who live in one state and work in another. Performers in that situation should ask the union's local office, and producers should ask their labor counsel before relying on right-to-work status for any hiring decision.