Is the Michigan Education Association trying to prevent teachers from opting out of their union membership?
Thanks to the 2012 passage of right-to-work in Michigan, teachers in the Wolverine State are no longer required to be a member of a union to work. But the union has been hard on teachers wishing to opt out of the union.
Teachers can opt out of the Michigan Education Association only in the month of August, and resignations must be sent in writing. In June, the union changed the address without widely publicizing the change. The new address was posted at the bottom of the union’s members only webpage.
“Given their past shenanigans, the MEA hasn’t earned our trust in this matter,” Patrick Wright, the vice president for legal affairs for the Mackinac Center, told Frank Beckmann in a radio interview about the address change. “It looks like another attempt to try and harm teachers who are thinking about leaving now.”
In addition to stealthily changing the address to send opt-out forms, the union also worked to extend many of its contracts just before the right-to-work law took effect. As a result, some members are stuck in the union until the end of their contracts.
It’s no wonder why the union would want to do everything it can to retain members: Last year, nearly 5,000 members opted-out of their union membership, and in 2013 it lost 1,500. On net, the union lost 4,000 members in the first year right-to-eork took effect.
The Mackinac Center, which describes itself as a “free market” institute, operates the August Opt-Out website, which is meant to help teachers leave the Michigan Education Association. The website provides teachers with a simple form and letter they can print out to mail to the Michigan Education Association to resign their membership.
The Michigan Education Association represents 140,000 workers, according to its website. It is affiliated with the National Education Association, the largest union in the country.
