I’m not in a RTW state and people in my state have been arguing about it as long as I can remember. Even after I read it, I still don’t understand what it means and how it could bring wages down.
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Since all the answers here have given you the anti-RTW stance on this, I’ll try to balance this out. RTW laws do weaken unions. As a result, RTW is one of a number of items like tax incentives or land discounts that states can use to lure a company to their state.
States that can draw in companies this way could bring in a lot of jobs. A lot of available open jobs will tighten the labor market, causing employers to have to improve wages to attract workers, which can somewhat offset the loss of union bargaining for wages.
It isn’t a silver bullet and a lot of states now have RTW laws, which sort of weakens its uniqueness. It also doesn’t work as often as the people support RTW would tell you it does.
Another common reason given for RTW by supporters is that by not requiring individuals to pay dues, no worker will be forced to contribute to an organization that might be supporting political causes they disagree with. I tend to think the concern about this is overblown, but it is red meat to anyone who’s politics are anti-union.
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