Michigan Became the 24^th State to Adopt a Right-to-Work Law

On December 11, 2012, Governor Snyder of Michigan signed into law two bills that, respectively, would allow private and public sector workers to opt out of joining a union and paying union dues, commonly referred to as Right-to-Work (“RTW”) Laws.  The public sector law carved out police and fire workers, because of safety concerns and the unpopularity of including safety workers in the new public employee law.  Pursuant to the new laws an employee cannot be required to join a union or be forced to have union dues deducted from his or her pay check as a condition for getting or keeping a job.  Contrary to the claims of unions, it does not prevent employees from joining a union, if they so choose.  It just gives the employee free choice.  Governor Snyder cited the favorable results in Indiana, including Indiana’s increase in new jobs and its new found ability to attract new businesses to Indiana, since its RTW Law went in to effect earlier in 2012.  Matthew Dolan and Kris Maher, “Unions Dealt Blow In UAW’s Home State,” The Wall Street Journal, 12/12/12 p. 1.  Governor Snyder also mentions the 9.3% unemployment rate in Michigan and reports that 90 new companies had decided to locate next door in Indiana, since that state had adopted RTW, as reasons for signing the laws.  “In Michigan, Heart Of Progressivism, It’s Right To Work Vs. Right To Pork,” Investors Business Daily (“IBD”), 12/10/12., p. A18.

Michigan’s new RTW Laws will not go into effect for ninety days after the end of the state legislature’s lame-duck session and will not apply to existing union contracts until they come up for renewal.  However, the United Auto Workers Union (“UAW”) has a master contract with the big three auto manufacturers, which doesn’t expire until 2015.  The big three auto companies are among the largest union employers in the state.  Matthew Dolan and Kris Maher, “Unions Dealt Blow,” Id.  Therefore, the favorable results of increased employment, reduced government expenses and reduced taxes, will not materialize to their full benefit in Michigan any time soon. This delay will give the unions a chance to attack the laws in court and by referendum before the residents of Michigan can see and feel the favorable results of the laws.

The UAW is upset because it had already been losing members for decades.  “The UAW once had more than one million members in the U.S., and as recently as 2004 had 654,000 active members.  Now, after years of cuts by Detroit’s big auto makers and their parts makers, the UAW’s national membership is down to roughly 380,000 members, according to Labor Department filings.”  Id.  The approximately 620,000 drop in UAW membership can be considered in very large part due to the UAW’ s excessive demands over the decades in terms of salary, health care, pension, working conditions, work rules, union grievance procedures, mandatory arbitration, strikes and appeals to the NLRB.  An auto manufacture cannot shut down a production line or change the manufacturing equipment without the UAW’s approval, which is likely to be denied or approval may come with onerous union demands.  Overall, between 2000 and 2010, union membership has declined 9.5% in non-RTW states and by 9.2% in RTW states, despite the increased number of union workers in government jobs.  “Right-To-Work Lies Fall Flat In Michigan,” IBD, 12/12/12, p.A1.

You may remember that back in the 1950’s Ford Motor Company had several assembly plants in New Jersey and nearby Pennsylvania.  However, in the mid-fifties, Ford starting shutting down plants.  Ford closed the Edgewater, NJ plant in 1955, the Chester, PA plant in 1961, the Mahwah, NJ plant in 1980 and the Edison, NJ plant in 2004.  It’s not that cars could not be profitably manufactured in the United States or that there was insufficient demand for cars in the United States, because during this same time frame many automobile manufacturing and assembly plants were built by Toyota, Honda, BMW, Nissan, Subaru, and Volkswagen.  Toyota alone opened approximately eleven plants from California to Pennsylvania, while the big three were closing plants from coast to coast.  However, many of these plants were built in RTW states, such as Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama.  Tennessee was one of the first states to adopt RTW Laws in 1947, soon after the Taft-Hartley Act became law.  Since then Tennessee has become a major manufacturing center, particularly in the automotive field.  For example, Nissan opened its Smyrna, Tennessee plant in 1983 and has its US Headquarters in the Nashville area.  Toyota has a parts facility in Jackson, Tennessee, Bridgestone Tire has its US headquarters in Nashville and Volkswagen opened a plant in Chattanooga.  Even GM is reopening its old Spring Hill, Tennessee plant.  In large part because of its RTW Laws, Tennessee has mainly been spared the mass layoffs, plant closures and bailouts that affected the Detroit area.  Sean Higgins, “Tennessee Auto Industry Thrives Without Unions,” IBD, 3/5/12, p.A1, A6.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”), private-sector, inflation-adjusted compensation in RTW states increased by 12% between 2001 and 2011, while such compensation increased by only 3% in forced union dues states during the same period.  “Right-To-Work…Michigan,” Id.  Compensation in the RTW states was better partly because those states tend to attract more quality jobs, as well as having lower living costs and, in some cases, no income taxes.  In RTW states, jobs increased 2.4% over that decade, while forced union dues states saw jobs decline by 3.4% during that period.  Id.

Therefore, President Obama’s statement that RTW means “the right to work for less money” is at variance with the truth.   Obama made the statement at a campaign stop at a Daimler Diesel plant in Michigan on Monday 12/11/12; however, he failed to explain that incomes are up more in RTW states than non-RTW states and that new job development was being restrained in forced union dues states.  Id.  Obama conveniently forgot to mention that since the end of the last recession, 72% of all jobs created were in the 22 RTW states that existed during that recovery period; however, he is always quick to claim personal credit for the totals that include states with the very RTW policies that he vigorously opposes.  The obvious attractions of RTW states explain why their populations grew by 15.3% between 2000 and 2010, while non-RTW states populations grew by only 5.9% during that same time period.  Id.

Many polls have consistently shown nearly 80% of the Americans who are regular voters support the RTW principle.  “Hoosiers Deliver Clear Message to Congress,” National Right to Work News Letter (“NRWN”), Feb., 2012, p.3.  “[S]cientific surveys regularly show rank-and-file Democrats and Independents, as well as rank-and-file Republicans, overwhelmingly oppose compulsory unionism.” Id.  The American people feel that forced unionism is morally wrong and that it is also a detriment to the economy.  “Major Right to Work Victory in the Midwest,” NRWN, 2/12, p.1, 2. The Republicans would do well with the general public to support the right of employees to work without being forced to pay union dues.  Hopefully, more states will adopt RTW Laws and give their employees the right to choose whether or not to join a union, have increased employment, merit-based pay increases, bonuses and advancement opportunities, lower cost of living and higher real compensation.   In a country that became great because it was a Meritocracy, anything other than the freedom to choose whether or not to join a union and the ability to choose merit advancement, is downright Un-American.