Michigan + Right to Work

[viral2010]

Michigan: Bills make it illegal to force workers to join a union or pay fees as a condition of employment

POSITION: Support House Bill 6348 & House Bill 6349

Please urge your represenative to support House Bills 6348 and 6349.Taken together, these bills would make it illegal to force workers to join a union or pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment.

H.B. 6348 would form the primary Right to Work statute, while H.B. 6349 would repeal statutory authorization for collecting forced union dues from public employees.

Of course, every worker would still have the right to join or support a labor union, only now it would be his or her decision to make.

The constitutional guarantee of freedom of association and the principles of ordinary decency are violated whenever any worker is forced to join or pay dues or fees to a private organization in order to earn a living.

Yet every day, thousands labor under the requirement that they pay union dues -- or be fired.

This is unconscionable.

Indeed, even Samuel Gompers, the founding President of the American Federation of Labor, argued against forced unionism noting that, "No lasting gain has ever come from compulsion."

But a Right to Work law wouldn't just protect the freedom of individual workers. All citizens would win in the improved economic climate a Right to Work law would foster in Michigan.

Studies have repeatedly shown that Right To Work states have a huge advantage in creating jobs and expanding their economies.

According to PHH Fantus, the nation's leading business relocation firm, half of all companies that are seeking to relocate or expand automatically rule out forced-unionism states.

In fact, in the past decade, non-agricultural employment in Right to Work states grew twice as fast compared to that in non-Right to Work states like Michigan.

Individual citizens of Michigan would also benefit from passage of this legislation.

A recent study by Dr. Barry Poulson, a past president of the North American Economics and Finance Association and also a professor of economics at the University of Colorado, compared household incomes in 133 metropolitan areas in Right to Work states with those of 158 metropolitan areas in non-Right to Work states.

Among other results, he found that the average real income for households in Right to Work state metro areas, when all else was equal, was $4,258 more than in non-Right to Work state metro areas.

The conclusion is clear: The economic benefits of a Right to Work law are too strong to be ignored.

Although the case for Right to Work legislation in Michigan is compelling from any legitimate perspective -- moral, political or economic -- union officials who want to keep coercing union dues from unwilling workers will say or do anything to keep the forced-dues money rolling into their coffers.

However, by fighting against Right to Work, union officials are telling you the only way they can stay in business -- and they are a big business -- is by forcing their members to pay dues.

Right to Work supporters know that when workers see a union truly representing them, they won't need to be compelled to pay tribute -- they will gladly join.

For these reasons, the individual freedom and job-creating power of a Right to Work law are supported by an overwhelming majority of Michigan's citizens.

No American should be required to join a labor union just to keep a job, and no Michigander should be compelled to pay dues to an organization he or she does not believe in.

In the interests of the rights of the working men and women of Michigan, of sound public policy and of basic fairness, DEMAND that your representative support House Bills 6348 and 6349 at every opportunity.