Democrats have taken power in Michigan, and they are using it.
On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed a bill that repealed the state’s decades-old “right-to-work” law, handing a setback to the state’s conservative movement and an important victory for labor unions.
“Today we come together to restore workers’ rights, protect Michiganders on the job, and grow Michigan’s middle class,” Whitmer said in a statement.
Right-to-work laws prohibit unions and employers from entering into agreements that require each worker under the contract to pay a fee to cover the costs of bargaining and representation. Unions decried the law and say it amounts to “free riding,” meaning workers choose not to pay union dues but still get the benefits of a union contract.
Republican leaders passed the state’s right-to-work law a decade ago. But after the Democrats gained power after last year’s election, they quickly destroyed it. Both the state House and Senate recently passed bills that overturned it on a party-line vote and sent the legislation to Whitmer’s desk.
Unions hailed the repeal. Rob Bieber, head of the Michigan AFL-CIO, said the state has “restored the balance of power” to workers.
“After decades of attacks on working people, it’s a new day in Michigan, and the future is bright,” Bieber said in a statement.
Right-to-work laws were enacted by Congress in 1947 and have spread to most states since then, including some with strong labor movements, such as Wisconsin. Michigan Republicans, led by Gov. Rick Snyder (R), passed the Michigan law in 2012, dealing a blow to organized labor in the state that is the heart of the US auto industry.
Bill Pugliano via Getty Images
The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, said the legislation signed by Whitmer marked the first repeal of state right-to-work laws in almost 60 years.
With the law now off the books, private sector unions in the country can once again negotiate so-called “union security” clauses. It is a requirement that each worker in the bargaining unit pays a fee to cover the costs associated with bargaining and enforcing the contract. (Michigan lawmakers voted to repeal the right-to-work law for public sector unions as well, but the move was only symbolic because the U.S. Supreme Court made the decision. all US public sector right-to-work in 2018.)
The right-to-work bill wasn’t Whitmer’s only pro-labor move on Friday. He also signed another bill that would restore the state’s “prevailing wage” law, which sets salary and benefit requirements for employees in government jobs, such as construction and service workers. Often criticized by conservatives, the law kept wage rates higher in government-funded workplaces and encouraged the use of unionized labor.
Whitmer’s office said restoring the law would “put more money in people’s pockets” and ensure Michigan has a “well-trained and skilled workforce.”