What is Right-to-Work? What does it mean for it to end in Michigan?
Governor Gretchen Whitmer is poised to repeal Michigan's "Right to Work" law, representing one of the most significant wins for unions in years.
The law, enacted in 2012, prohibits public and private unions from requiring that nonunion employees pay union dues even if the union bargains on their behalf. The news has Michigan union leaders, “excited to see the push for re-instating the prevailing wage, which prevents non-union contractors from offering a lower rate than unions on government jobs.”
On the other hand, supporters of "right-to-work" claim the law has made the state competitive. Michigan State Sen. Thomas Albert, said that the repeal would allow "forced union membership."
"Right-to-work laws" refers to state rules that prohibit union security agreements between employers and labor unions which require employees who are not union members to contribute to the costs of union representation. States including California, Illinois, and New York are not Right to Work states, meaning workers can be required to join a labor union to get or keep a job.
Currently, 27 states have right-to-work laws. Ohio is not a “right to work” state, but does allow employees to opt out from joining a union. Unions in Ohio, however, are allowed to charge a typically smaller fee for employees that opted out.
A brief history of union law?
The National Labor Relations Act, was passed in 1935 . Among other things, the act provided that a company could lawfully agree to be any of the following:
A closed shop, in which employees must be members of the union as a condition of employment.
A union shop, which allows for hiring non-union employees, provided that the employees then join the union within a certain period.
An agency shop, in which employees must pay the equivalent of the cost of union representation, but need not formally join the union.
An open shop, in which an employee cannot be compelled to join or pay the equivalent of dues to a union or be fired for joining the union.
In 1947, the U.S. Congress passed the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, outlawing the closed shop and authorizing individual states (but not local governments, such as cities or counties) to outlaw the union shop and agency shop for employees working in their jurisdictions. Any state law that outlaws such arrangements is known as a right-to-work state.
The federal government operates under open shop rules nationwide, but many of its employees are represented by unions.
What’s next? Unions have been gaining power throughout the last few years after decades of hollowing. Only one in ten American workers is now in a union, down from nearly one in three workers during the heyday of unions back in the 1950s.
Unions and progressive politicians are currently fighting for the Protecting The Right To Organize (PRO) Act in the U.S. Congress, which would amount to a major reform of American labor laws. It, amongst other measures, would impose larger penalties on employers who try to squash unionization drives.
