With union militants striking reports and destroying property, it’s sad to see the Obama Administration refuses to condemn such tactics: White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to condemn the increasing violence and threats by union members in Michigan, merely…
The ink was barely dry on Michigan’s new Right to Work law when forced-union apologists began to insist state workers were exempt from the law. They argue that a commission, the Civil Service Commission — whose appointees were all picked…
The significance of Michigan enacting a Right to Work law was not missed on George Will: Rick Snyder, who is hardly a human cactus, warned Michigan’s labor leaders. The state’s mild-mannered Republican governor, in his first term in his first public office, has rarely been accused of being, or praised for being, a fire-breathing conservative. When unions put on Michigan’s November ballot two measures that would have entrenched collective-bargaining rights in the state constitution, Snyder told them they were picking a fight they might regret. Both measures lost resoundingly in the state with the fifth-highest rate of unionization (17.5 percent, down from 28.4 percent in 1985) and, not coincidentally, the sixth-highest unemployment rate (9.1 percent). Republicans decided to build upon that outcome by striking a blow for individual liberty and against coerced funding of the Democratic Party. Hence the right-to-work laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to prohibit the requirement of paying union dues as a condition of employment. The unions’ frenzy against this freedom is as understandable as their desire to abolish the right of secret ballots in unionization elections: Freedom is not the unions’ friend. After Colorado required public-employees unions in 2001 to have annual votes reauthorizing the collection of dues, membership in the Colorado Association of Public Employees declined 70 percent. After Indiana’s government stopped in 2005 collecting dues from unionized public employees, the number of dues-paying members plummeted 90 percent. In Utah, automatic dues deductions for political activities were ended in 2001; made voluntary, payments from teachers declined 90 percent. After a similar measure in Washington state in 1992, the percentage of teachers making contributions fell from 82 to 11. The Democratic Party’s desperate opposition to the liberation of workers from compulsory membership in unions is because unions are conveyor belts moving coerced dues money into the party.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), a stalwart Right to Work supporter is retiring from Congress, but before he leaves, he made a forceful statement on worker's choice and economic growth: Many observers were surprised when Michigan, historically a stronghold of union power, became the nation’s 24th “Right to Work” state. The backlash from November’s unsuccessful attempt to pass a referendum forbidding the state from adopting a right to work law was a major factor in Michigan’s rejection of compulsory unionism. The need for drastic action to improve Michigan’s economy, which is suffering from years of big government policies, also influenced many Michigan legislators to support right to work. Let us be clear: right to work laws simply prohibit coercion. They prevent states from forcing employers to operate as closed union shops, and thus they prevent unions from forcing individuals to join. In many cases right to work laws are the only remedy to federal laws which empower union bosses to impose union dues as a condition of employment.
Heritage Foundation provides readers with a succinct summary of what Right to Work means to workers in Michigan: Conservatives won an enormous victory in Michigan last week. The state just passed a right-to-work law that makes union dues voluntary. Starting next year, union contracts cannot require employers to fire employees who do not pay union dues. The state that gave birth to the United Auto Workers union has become America’s 24th right-to-work state. Unions are furious and vowing to overturn the legislation via an initiative. However, it is hard to see this drive succeeding. Unions already put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot to prevent the legislature from ever passing a right-to-work bill. Michiganders voted it down by a 15-point margin. That is not surprising: Polling shows that a majority of Michiganders support right-to-work. So do 40 percent of union households. This is great news for Michigan’s unionized workers and unemployed.
In a column for Bloomberg and Reason magazine’s web site, Shikha Dalmia considers how Big Labor will react to Michigan’s enactment of the 24th state Right to Work law this month: Labor has two options now that its ability to…
Speaking at a rally, a union militant threatened Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s daughter — “We’lll be at your daughter’s soccer game,” they promised.
Speaking at a rally, a union militant threatened Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s daughter — “We’lll be at your daughter’s soccer game,” they promised. …
Nolan Finley nfinley@detnews.com Union chants echoed off the Capitol dome before the Republican-controlled state Legislature's courageous vote on the right-to-work bill: "Whose house?" "Our house!" Not anymore. The Capitol now belongs to all the people of Michigan. For 60 years or so, labor unions have dominated policymaking and politics in this state. Even as their membership dwindled to a sliver of the work force — 17 percent — their stifling influence over Lansing kept Michigan from adopting the common-sense reforms that would have made it more competitive for jobs and investment. Competitiveness is what Gov. Rick Snyder is all about. His decision to lead the right-to-work push stemmed from his desire to give Michigan every advantage possible in competing with other states for economic development. It was not, as his critics charge, a capitulation to big money GOP interests or a hypocritical betrayal of his commitment to relentless positive action.