Michigan repercussions

Looks like Michigan's right to work push is ripe for push back. Gov. Snyder's popularity has plummeted since the right to work legislation was fast tracked. The polling numbers also indicate right to work is overwhelmingly unpopular in the state.

Michigan and politics

More on the politics of the surprising Michigan right to work campaign from Political Wire.

Michigan slated to become 24th Right to Work state

Right to work legislation passes Michigan's Republican controlled state legislature. If, as expected Michigan's republican governor signs the bill, Michigan will become the nation's 24th right to work state. This move definitely disadvantages unions by allowing workers to refuse to belong and pay dues to a union, despite the fact the union is obligated to represent those workers. While the current battle advantages opponents of labor (and not all employers fall into that group), it may give serious impetus to reforms advantageous to labor. Big labor should seriously reconsider the existing compulsory union model in favor of federal legislative reform permitting micro unions and voluntary unionism. Micro unions would permit small groups of employees to unionize, irrespective of the desires of a majority of employees in the entire enterprise. Voluntary unionism would permit dissenters to opt out of not only obligations to fund a union, but also representation by the union. Those dissenters would be free to bargain directly with their employer.

Michigan and right to work

Will Michigan become the nation's 24th right to work state? Maybe so.

Rustbelt Right to Work challenged

A union has sued to block implementation of Indiana's new Right to Work law.

Indiana passes right to work

Indiana is now a right to work state. The real question is "what does that mean?"

Ohio Right to Work attept announced

Despite the rebuke Ohio voters gave to Gov. Kasich's effort to restrict public sector collective bargaining, a conservative group with Tea Party roots has announced its intent to try to make Ohio a right to work state through a 2012 ballot initiative.

Right to Work vetoed in N.H.

Right to work legislation passed the legislature in New Hampshire only to be vetoed by Governor John Lynch (D). Eighteen states are considering legislation to join the ranks of the 22 existing right to work states.

Right to work birth of the industrialzed South?

The Dallas Morning News has an interesting piece about the genesis of right to work.

Louisiana and Right to Work

Louisiana was the last southern state to pass a Right to Work law. It happened in 1976, shortly before I came to New Orleans for my first job as an attorney. Those were very different and very trying times as noted by Jim Beam, a reporter in Lake Charles who recounts the violence that led to its passage.

NRTWLDF aids workers

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has provided free legal assistance to 3 Michigan Teamsters in their attempt to opt out of paying full union dues. This is a problem we do not see in states with Right to Work laws, because union membership cannot be a requirement for employment. In non-Right to Work states an employer and a union can agree that employees must be union members. In that situation, employees who do not want to be full union members, must become financial core members and pay a portion of the unions dues attributable to the cost of representation. The Supreme Court in Communication Workers v. Beck, "guarantees the right of workers to opt-out of forced dues intended for purposes other than workplace bargaining, including lobbying, political activism, and members-only activities." It also requires unions to provide an independent assessment of how dues money is being spent.

Michigan

Michigan has the highest unemployment rate among the states. The Executive Director of a Michigan organization called the Small Government Alliance claims overwhelming public support in the state for passage of a right to work law. This post seems in line with Nate Silver's analysis of Gallup's survey on union decline. Both discussed here.

Healthcare bill aids unionization?

Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Committee, claims in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, that healthcare proposals are "a Trojan Horse for more forced unionization."