(The Center Square) – Proponents are stating their case for right to work as this week marks the 10th anniversary of the passage of Michigan’s Right to Work law.
The same advocates warn about the potential repeal of RTW in the state on the eve of Democratic majorities in both the state’s House of Representatives and Senate as well as a Democratic governor reelected for another four-year term.
Democrats have vowed to overturn Michigan’s RTW law since it was signed by former Gov. Rick Snyder 10 years ago. Polls and surveys conducted prior to the Dec. 11, 2012, signing indicate most state residents and businesses supported the policy.
In the 10 years since, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy reported this week, union membership in the state has dropped by 143,000 workers, or 25.5%.
“As the new Legislature debates whether to repeal Michigan’s right-to-work law, they should wrestle with the fact that the law is overwhelmingly popular — supported by Michigan voters 3-to-1 — and that more than 143,000 people have decided their union wasn’t working for them,” Jarrett Skorup, Mackinac Center senior director of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center, said in a statement. “Forcing many of these workers back into unions against their will is bad policy and a violation of their rights.”
Mackinac Center researchers analyzed federal LM-2 data and Michigan Civil Service Commission reports. All data considered pertained to active union membership rather than retirees or students between 2012 and 2022. According to the public policy organization, this information is more precise than data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which previously reported lower numbers for resigned union memberships.
“Michigan’s right-to-work law is very simple – no one can be forced to join or pay dues to a union in order to hold a job,” Skorup said. “And a significant number of former union members have directly benefited from being able to exercise these rights.”
Only one union, The Michigan Nurses Association, of the 15 major organized labor groups studied by the Center for Public Policy recognized a membership increase. However, the Mackinac group notes the number of registered nurses increased more than 10% over the past 10 years, while union affiliation only increased by 1.6%.
Despite the automotive industry exhibiting a 20% employment growth in the past decade statewide, United Auto Workers lost more than 10,000 members during the same period. The Michigan Education Association membership dropped by nearly 32% since 2012, even though the public policy group states the number of school employees has remained steady during that time.
Conversely, an almost 40% decrease in construction workers in the state runs alongside a 7.2% decline in carpenters’ union membership.
“Ten years ago people thought the world would fall after Right to Work passed,” Jimmy Greene, CEO & president of the Associated Builders & Contractors trade group, told The Center Square. “Instead what it did was make Michigan a more attractive place to do business and over the span of time, it’s worked. All the issue did was raise an important question that in my opinion, serve to enhance the value of unionism should an employee wish to fall under a collective bargaining agreement. And the question was simple. Would you like to belong to the union?”
Greene continued: “We have continued to offer Michigan as a great place for businesses to come and [RTW] still does not vacate anyone’s opportunity to join a union should they see fit. But if we’re going to pull the rug from other businesses now over a simple question, then Michigan will continue to lose ground where other states gain.”
