On September 3, 1991, 25 men and women perished in a fire in a chicken-processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. Workers were trapped inside the burning building because managers of the plant had illegally bolted emergency exits in order to prevent possible theft of chickens. The American public reacted with outrage to news of the fire because it was recognized that the employees' deaths could have been prevented if Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards regarding access to fire exits had been enforced. As a result, labor representatives have repeatedly called for new, more effective means for protecting Americans from the hazards of injury, illness, and death at their workplaces.

In North Carolina, the site of the 1991 poultry plant fire, Worker Right to Act (RTA) legislation has been enacted in an effort to meet those demands, and such legislation is being proposed in other states. RTA legislation is...