Supporters of Michigan’s right-to-work measure, which has been in effect for one week, are busy preparing to defend the law from powerful labor unions.
Michigan will become the nation’s 24th right-to-work state Thursday, giving workers the ability to opt out of forced unionism for the first time.
The NLRB’s three-Democrat panel of board members declared SEIU Healthcare Michigan violated the labor rights of a member of its union staff on Friday.
Union members represented 11.3 percent of the American workforce in 2012, a drop from 2011’s 11.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The president of Michigan’s largest union is instructing officials to prepare to sue its own members, according to a leaked memo issued after the state adopted right-to-work laws in December.
A pair of federal courts struck down union challenges to labor reforms in Indiana and Wisconsin, preserving major Republican gains aimed at cutting costs and attracting business.
Republicans in Michigan capped off a prolific lame duck session that included turning the home of the United Auto Workers into a right-to-work state by passing recall reforms.
The right-to-work law passed in Michigan last week is based on similar legislation in Indiana, the success of which prompted Michigan Republicans to pass the legislation. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) said 90 companies have told them that Indiana’s enactment of the right-to-work law will be a significant factor in their decision-making process.
Michigan Republican legislators will file legislation today that would allow workers to opt out of joining unions as a condition of employment.
Michigan voters rejected two union-backed efforts to amend that state’s constitution on Tuesday despite heavy spending by big labor and a largely unionized population.
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