By Valerie J L Conklin
In recent years, unionization has been on the upswing. Volkwagen’s Chattanooga plant just voted to join the United Auto Workers (UAW), the first time a plant in the famously anti-union South has done so. Some 400 Starbucks locations have unionized, covering 10,000 workers. And last year, Michigan became the first state in decades to repeal its so-called right-to-work law. (The UAW’s recent defeat at two Mercedes plants in Alabama, which it is appealing, marks a rare recent union loss.)
“Today, we are coming together to restore workers’ rights, protect Michiganders on the job and grow Michigan’s middle class,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the day she signed the bill.
Michigan, home to the Big Three automakers and the UAW, was historically one of the strongest pro-union states. That changed in 2012 when a right-to-work law was passed by Michigan’s GOP-controlled legislature. Nationwide, unionization rates have plummeted. In the past 40 years, unionization has fallen to only 10 percent of all workers, from 20 percent in 1983, according to the latest estimates by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Right-to-work laws can undermine unions because they typically do not require workers, who benefit from collective bargaining, to pay dues, potentially creating what’s known as the free-rider problem. Unions rely on those dues for staff salaries, strike funds and training programs. And right-to-work laws weaken unions by “making it harder for workers’ organizations to sustain themselves financially,” according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Conversely, conservative organizations like Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit that advocates for “free markets and limited government,” argue that recent union wins are only temporary. They say the longer-term decline in unionization is indicative of the waning relevance of unions.
“It shows that unions are just selling a product that workers don’t want,” said F. Vincent Vernuccio, a senior fellow at the MacKinac Center. “Unions are mired in this industrial revolution, early 20th century, one-size-fits-all business model that is frankly not really conducive to modern workers.”
In fact, Michigan’s recent rejection of right-to-work represents a pendulum swing in support for unions—both locally and nationally. A decade after Michigan passed right-to-work legislation, union membership in Michigan has actually grown, with Michigan mirroring the country’s growing support for unions. Today, 71 percent of Americans say they support unions, the highest rate since 1965. When Democrats won the majority in all three branches of Michigan’s state government in 2022, getting rid of right-to-work was one of the party’s top priorities.
The gradual resurgence of unions follows years of assaults on collective-bargaining rights. Public sector unions took a major legal hit in 2017, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Janus v. AFSCME, that union agency fees were equivalent to “coerced political speech,” as they financially support organizations that have political agendas. The ruling opened the way for public workers like teachers and government employees to opt out of union membership and allowances even in states without right-to-work laws.
The Mackinac Center even set up a “drop your dues” hotline in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. But five years after the Janus decision, the “drop” campaigns “failed to make a significant dent in public sector union membership numbers,” according to the American Bar Association.
There is no data yet on how the reversal of right-to-work will impact Michigan’s future, but there is plenty of speculation. Business people, in particular, fear that Michigan will no longer be able to attract companies.
Dick DeVos, a former Republican candidate for Governor whose family is a major fund raiser for conservative candidates and causes, expects Michigan will “pay the price,” he told Fox Business in February. “We’ve already seen at least two of our automobile plants relocated down into Indiana, which happens to be a right-to-work state, of course,” said DeVos.
Rob Cleveland, president of the Cornerstone Alliance, a nonprofit in southwest Michigan focused on economic development, agrees. “There are people who are making decisions — companies, real-estate brokers and site selectors — who are basing their decisions on right-to-work,” he said — though he could not identify specific companies that have chosen to go elsewhere.
Meanwhile, workers keep logging victories. Last year, the Writers Guild of America prevailed after a nearly five-month-long strike and Michigan’s own UAW won a historic victory.
In Michigan, Democratic legislators are focused on bolstering wages, which took a hit during a decade of right-to-work. A 2017 study by University of Illinois’s Project for Middle Class Renewal found that wages in Michigan and other Midwestern right-to-work states dropped by 2.6 percent on average while right-to-work laws were in effect. Nearby states without right-to-work did not face the same decrease in wages. On average, union members have 30 percent higher wages than nonunion workers.
State Representative Joey Andrews, whose District 38 includes Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, expects wages will bounce back, especially with help from additional labor reform. Along with the right-to-work repeal in 2023, the Democratic majority passed a prevailing-wage law. This will guarantee that construction workers employed on public-infrastructure projects are paid up to local standards.
Andrews has more labor legislation in mind. He and his fellow Democrats are working toward reclassifying independent contractors so workers aren’t missing out on full-time benefits. Unemployment extensions that would help support workers in trades when they are between gigs are also a priority.
However, much will depend on the November election and whether the Democrats can hold on to their razor-thin majority. Several state legislators, including Andrews, face tight reelection bids. If the GOP retakes the legislature — even with Whitmer in the governor’s mansion — additional pro-labor legislation is likely to die.