Michigan and Right to Work

Michigan recently voted in legislation to become a Right to Work state. This is considered to be a major blow to the unions in the state. What Right to Work (RTW) means is that you can no longer have a closed shop.


A closed shop is an employer where all employees are required to pay dues to the union, usually through payroll deduction. Employees in Michigan will now have the option of opting out of those dues. Proponents of the legislation claim that it will strengthen unions, because the unions will have to prove their value to the members to get dues. This is disingenuous at best.

Opponents of the legislation claim that this is designed to hamstring unions, because the beneficiaries of unions can get a free ride. Once enough free riders weaken the unions, they will fall apart. Then managers can then proceed to oppressing the workers. Almost equally poppycock. It would take an unusually strong willed person to withstand the constant campaign of harassment and ostracism their coworkers will bring to bear, solely to avoid paying union dues. That’s if there is already a strong union in place.

If there is not already a union in place, however, it is much harder to make a case for unionization in a RTW environment. And that is the real overt goal of the legislation. Michigan suffers from one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, hovering at a little over 9%. It will require investment by businesses to bring that number down.

All of the states compete for business investment, in a way that they do not f or people to relocate. The country is awash in labor. What is in short supply is capital. And nobody is going to build a new factory in a high union environment. It is hard to compete with nonunion states like Tennessee and North Carolina if you have a long history of union work rules and closed shops. That is why the center of gravity of the auto industry has shifted south from the Midwest in the last 20 years. According to economic development professionals, many companies will not even consider a non-RTW state for new factories.

The hope is that with a more business friendly legal environment, Michigan will have an easier time attracting companies seeking to locate new facilities. That’s the business case.

On the political side, labor unions are considered an arm of the Democratic Party. Labor unions supply a lot of the cash and most of the foot soldiers for the Democratic machine.

Improving their chances of getting new business investment, and weakening the political machine of their opponents. I guess for the Republicans, that would be considered a win-win.