New laws will make Michigan 24th “right-to-work” state

(by Bernie Woodall, Chicago Tribune) LANSING, Michigan (Reuters) – Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature on Tuesday approved a ban on mandatory union membership in public and private sectors, dealing a stunning blow to organized labor in the state that is home to U.S. automakers and the symbol of industrial labor in the United States.

Republican Governor Rick Snyder is expected to sign the bills into law this week, completing in a few days a campaign to make Michigan the 24th U.S. state with a right-to-work law that prohibits unions from establishing a “closed shop” requiring employees to join and contribute dues to a union.

As more than 12,000 unionized workers and supporters protested at the Capitol in Lansing, the state House of Representatives gave final approval to a pair of “right-to-work” bills covering public- and private-sector unions.  In a rapid turn of events, Michigan has moved from being a bastion of union influence to the verge of joining states, mostly in the South, that have weakened local laws giving unions absolute power over various industries.

While labor [union] leaders decried the legislation, Republican Representative Lisa Lyons said during the debate in the House that such laws were not an attack on unions.

“This is the day Michigan freed its workers,” she said.

Opponents argue that the measures undermine a basic union tenet of bargaining collectively [collective bargaining] with employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions. They also allow workers to opt out of a union, potentially reducing membership.

By weakening unions, right-to-work laws also could hurt the Democratic Party, which traditionally receives a significant portion of its funding and grass-roots support from labor unions.

Supporters of so-called right-to-work measures say some unions have become too rigid and workers should be given a choice of whether to join. They also say a more flexible labor market encourages businesses investment, citing “right-to-work” states where some foreign automakers have recently established plants rather than in Michigan.

CRIES OF ‘SHAME’

The right-to-work measures were approved to cries of “shame” from protesters inside the Capitol building, which was closed to visitors when it reached capacity of 2,200, Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk said.

An estimated 10,000 more people demonstrated outside in cold and snowy conditions, including members of the United Auto Workers union, and teachers, who shut down several schools in the state to attend the rally.

A few protesters were ejected from the Capitol after they chanted slogans from the gallery during the debate. Protesters tore down two tents set up for supporters of “right-to-work” on the grounds of the Capitol.

Teamsters union national president, James Hoffa, whose father, Jimmy Hoffa, was one of the nation’s most famous labor leaders until he disappeared in 1975 in Michigan, denounced Republican leaders in a speech to the protesters.

“Let me tell the governor and all those elected officials who vote for this shameful, divisive bill – there will be repercussions,” Hoffa said. “Some day soon, they will face the voters of Michigan and they will have to explain why they sided with the billionaires to back this destructive legislation.”

Unions have accused Snyder of caving in to wealthy Republican business owners… Snyder, a former computer company executive who had said “right-to-work” legislation was too divisive for Michigan, changed course last week and announced his support for it.

The right-to-work movement has grown in the U.S. in recent years.  Indiana earlier this year became the first state in the industrial Midwest to approve “right-to-work” legislation and several other states are watching the Michigan action closely.

LEGAL CHALLENGES LOOM

Wisconsin Republicans in 2011 passed laws severely restricting the power of public sector unions (unions for government employees).  While Wisconsin did not attempt to pass right-to-work, the success of Republicans there in curbing powerful unions such as teachers and state workers encouraged politicians in other states to follow suit.

Republicans in Michigan were also emboldened by the defeat in the November election of a ballot initiative backed by unions that would have enshrined the right to collective bargaining in the state constitution.

Michigan is home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry, with some 700 manufacturing plants in the state. The state has the fifth highest percentage of workers who are union members at 17.5 percent. Only New York, Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state are more heavily unionized. …

Major automakers, which secured concessions from the UAW after nearly going bankrupt during the recession of 2008-09, were careful not to take sides publicly in the fight.

All of the so-called Big Three domestic automakers said they were “neutral” on “right-to-work,” even though the Michigan Chamber of Commerce strongly supports it.  “At Ford, we are focused on working with all our partners, including the UAW [United Auto Workers union],” the company said in a statement after the votes.

Democrats and unions have vowed to challenge the new laws in the courts, to try to overturn them in a ballot initiative and possibly oust through recall elections some Republicans who voted for the measures.

Democratic Representative Douglas Geiss said “right-to-work” laws would lead to a resumption of the battles surrounding the creation of unions decades ago.  “There will be fights on the shop floor if many workers announce they will not pay union dues,” Geiss said.

(Additional reporting by Robert Carr, David Bailey and Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Greg McCune and Peter Cooney)

Copyright 2012 Reuters.  Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from The Chicago Tribune. Visit the website at ChicagoTribune.com.