As you watch your children board the school bus for the first day back to classes, consider this: That school bus driver is likely forced to pay fees to a union as a condition of driving that bus.

Why? Because he or she works in one of the 25 forced-unionism states in America; states where it is lawfully permissible to force a worker to pay fees to a union as a condition of employment.

You're not alone if you think this sounds absurd. According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly 80 percent of your fellow Americans agree: No worker should be forced to pay union fees as a condition of employment.

Big Labor union bosses in your state enjoy a special privilege allowing them to expand their ranks through compulsion. Union bosses can impose a monopoly bargaining contract, which virtually always includes a forced-dues clause that requires every employee (even the ones who did not vote for the union) to pay tribute to the union bosses, just for the privilege of having a job.

While forced unionism is just plain wrong; coercing workers into subsidizing union officials also holds back a state's economy.

With Wisconsin joining the ranks in March of this year, there are now 25 right-to-work states in America — states that have outlawed Big Labor union bosses' ability to force workers to pay them fees as a condition of employment.

The absence of forced unionism gives right-to-work states an economic leg up.

According to the National Institute for Labor Relations Research, from 2004-2014, private-sector job growth was nearly twice as high in right-to-work states compared to non-right-to-work states (9.9 percent to 5.1 percent).

The NILRR also reports that in 2014, workers in right-to-work states had on average $2,000 more to spend in actual, disposable personal income ($39,919 to $37,950).

Of course, the better economic climate might explain why the NILRR reports that from 2003 to 2013, right-to-work sates saw resident population grow by more than five percent while non-right-to-work states suffered a four percent population decline.

The facts speak for themselves.

So it's no surprise that a growing number of states are eager to cast off Big Labor's chokehold, and free their workforce and realize the economic opportunity a right-to-work law would bring.

And that's why in just the last three years, three former bastions of Big Labor — Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin — have passed right-to-work laws, freeing their workers from Big Labor's ironclad grip.

Right-to-work laws do not outlaw labor unions, and they do not prevent any worker from joining a labor union.

Right-to-work laws simply codify one, commonsense principle: Every worker should have the choice to join a labor union, but no worker should be forced to pay fees to a union as condition of employment.

So as you celebrate this three-day weekend, consider the benefits of right-to-work. Consider your unemployed neighbor who might find a job. Consider the new manufacturing plant that might open its doors. Consider what you might do with an extra $2,000 of spending power in your pocket.

Will your state be the next right-to-work state?

Mark Mix is president of the National Right to Work Committee. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.