President Obama broke his silence on right-to-work laws last week when he spoke out against the labor battle transpiring in Michigan.
“We should do everything we can to keep creating middle-class jobs that help folks rebuild security for their families,” Obama said in a Dec. 10 speech at Detroit’s Daimler Diesel plant. “And by the way, what we shouldn’t do— I’ve just got to say this—what we shouldn’t be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions. We shouldn’t be doing that. The so-called ‘right-to-work’ laws—they don’t have to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.”
Yet Republican lawmakers in Michigan pushed through a “right-to-work” bill that will most definitely weaken collective bargaining in one of the nation’s most heavily unionized states. Under the new law, employees in unionized workplaces—including the United Autoworkers Union—will no longer be required to pay union dues in order to be represented. Such policies have weakened union power and influence in the 23 states that have previously passed similar laws.
The law’s passage in Michigan was wrought with controversy. Every Democrat in the state’s House and Senate voted against the bill Dec. 6, as well as four Republican senators and six GOP state representatives. The conservatives who broke with their party stated they were uncomfortable with the way the legislation had been expedited, bypassing the normal committee process that requires public input.
“I’ve always rejected not being allowed to read bills before we vote on them, regardless of which party is in power,” said state Sen. Tory Rocca. “This is obviously a pretty weighty issue. People weren’t allowed to see what the language was going to be … until it was given to us literally minutes before we started voting. I couldn’t bring myself to justify making a change like this.”
“My district has a lot of support for unions,” said state Rep. Ed McBroom, a Tea Party member and one of the “no” votes. “I had employers even calling me saying they’re satisfied with the relationships they have with unions in our area, and they said they didn’t want this either. I think that there’s room for some very serious reforms with union policy in our state, but I don’t think it was necessary to go to this length.”
Under Michigan law, the state’s House and Senate waited five days before voting on one another’s bills. Democratic state Rep. Douglas Geiss firmly opposed the bill on the legislative floor Dec. 11.
“We’re going to pass something that will undo 100 years of labor relations, and there will be blood. There will be repercussions,” Geiss said.
Yet Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder told Fox News Dec. 7 the legislation is pro-worker.
“We have hard-working people in Michigan, and it’s important to give them the freedom to choose,” Snyder said. “They should be able to decide whether to join a union or not.”
Opponents, however, say the law allows workers to benefit from a unionized workplace without financially supporting the organizations.
“What this is really about is defunding unions,” Steve Cook, president of Michigan Education Association, told the Huffington Post. “They’re attacking the collective bargaining process. They want to force unions to basically have to provide services, benefits and the protections to non-members who will not pay a penny for them. It defunds unions. It cripples unions.”
Supporters of the law say it will encourage businesses to set up shop in the state. But according to a 2011 study by the Economic Policy Institute, right-to-work laws don’t affect the performance of state economies, and actually reduce wages for both union and non-union workers by an average of $1,500 per year.
As lawmakers voted for right-to-work inside the Michigan Capitol, protesters gathered outside and mobbed a pro right-work tent sponsored by Americans for Prosperity. The Capitol building was temporarily shut down by police, and some protesters were arrested and pepper-sprayed.
UAW President Bob King told CBS the union will consider recalling certain state lawmakers, as well as Snyder, who chose to sign the bill into law Dec. 11 despite a multitude of requests he veto it. Others hope Obama will take action to assist the labor class that largely helped reelect him in November.
“I’d love to see the president of the United States, whoever he his, get out there and lead on behalf of the people in this country who really need help,” Amalgamated Transit Union president Larry Hanley, a member of the AFL-CIO’s Executive Council, told the Huffington Post. “Without the poor — the army of poor in America — he would not be in office, so we would hope he would do more.
