Rolling Back “Right-to-Work” in States Like Michigan Sends a Message to Anti-Union Bosses
Michigan’s repeal of its “right-to-work” law could be a huge boon to labor — not because of the technicalities of the law itself, but because the entire country is hearing the message that the state will not tolerate flagrant union busting.
Workers demonstrate outside the Michigan State Capitol in 2012, when the state’s right-to-work bill was first passed. (Jeff Kowalsky / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On March 24, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation repealing a 2012 law that made Michigan a “right-to-work” (RTW) state — the first time since 1965 that a RTW law was repealed and only the fifth time ever since these laws were first introduced in the 1940s. Michigan’s repeal dropped the number of RTW states to twenty-six.
Despite their name, RTW laws have nothing to do with guaranteeing a right to employment. Rather, they allow workers in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying for the costs associated with negotiating and enforcing their union contract. Employers tout them as a bulwark of freedom against “compulsory unionism,” while unions decry them for sapping union solidarity and resources by guaranteeing a “right to freeload.”
The news grabbed national headlines. President Joe Biden sent out an approving tweet. Labor groups celebrated, and employer groups acknowledged defeat while sounding ominous warnings about the consequences.
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