Democratic lawmakers in the upper chamber of the Michigan Legislature voted to repeal the state’s 2012 right-to-work law, which prohibits public and private unions from requiring that nonunion employees pay union dues. After a decision is made on which version of the bill to send to Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.), it is expected to be signed into law.
At present, 27 states have right-to-work laws to protect the rights of non-union employees. Michigan is set to become the first state in nearly 60 years to repeal such a law. Repealing the 2012 law would also undo part of Rick Snyder’s (R.) legacy. Snyder preceded Whitmer as governor of Michigan.
“Many job providers will be less willing to locate or expand in Michigan if we repeal our right-to-work status,” state senator Thomas Albert (R.) said to the Detroit Free Press. Albert sits on the Michigan Senate Labor Committee.
“This is about forcing Michigan workers to join a union. If a union is providing the value, then people will join,” explained house minority leader Matt Hall (R.) to the Freep when the house’s bill passed last week.
Democrats have countered the law was meant to deliberately hurt labor unions and to allow some employees to benefit from unions’ collective-bargaining efforts while not contributing themselves. Repealing the law has been a focus of Democrats since they won control of the Michigan legislature last November.
Beginning with Whitmer’s gubernatorial victory in 2018, the state has experienced a political sea change. Republicans had unified control of government under Snyder. Now, during Whitmer’s second term, Democrats do.
Senators approved the repeal on a 20-17 vote, sending it back to the house, which passed its own version last week but must approve the final language.
Both the house and the senate bills include an appropriation and Republicans say this was done to ensure that the final product is “referendum-proof.” The Michigan constitution holds that bills with appropriations attached to them are not subject to a voter referendum.
Whitmer said she plans to sign the bill despite the fact she pledged on the campaign trail to veto bills that feature an appropriation as a strategy to block referendum votes.
“I have made a promise to restore workers’ rights in Michigan. I have fought against the creation of this barrier in the first place. I did not ask the legislature to put that part into the bill and it certainly is not on my agenda,” Whitmer told reporters, as quoted by the Detroit News. “But I am going to sign a bill that restores workers’ rights.”
The “not on my agenda” line was an apparent reference to Snyder, who made a similar comment about the 2012 law before he signed it.
According to the Associated Press, Michigan had the nation’s seventh-highest percentage of unionized workers when the right-to-work law was enacted in 2012, but the state dropped to 11th in 2022.
At present, the repeal will only apply to contracts with private sector employers, such as automakers and manufacturers, because the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME prohibits compulsory dues or fee payment for public employees. The Michigan legislature has included language that will apply to public employees if the Supreme Court decision is overturned.