Labor rights in Michigan blindsided by GOP
On Thursday night, GOP lawmakers backed by Koch brothers voted through a Right-to-Work bill announced that morning VIDEO
Topics: Video, Michigan, Right-to-work, Unions, Rick Snyder, GOP, Republican Party, Labor Rights, union busting, Wisconsin, News
A right-to-work supporter, receives a thumbs down sign from a union worker during a rally in Lansing, Mich(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Last night Republican legislators backed by the Koch brothers delivered a harsh blow to the union heartland of Michigan. Right-to-work legislation was pushed through both the state House and Senate by Republican majorities, while powerless and furious protesters looked on.
It was a sneak move — GOP lawmakers only announced Thursday morning that they intended to enact the so-called right-to-work bill (aptly described by its opponents as the “no-rights-at-work” bill). Right-to-work laws ban requirements to pay dues or fees to a union as a condition of employment — studies have consistently shown that states with right-to-work laws have lower wages for union and non-union workers.
As a study by Elise Gould and Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute found:
[O]ur findings — that “right-to-work” laws are associated with significantly lower wages and reduced chances of receiving employer-sponsored health insurance and pensions — are based on the most rigorous statistical analysis currently possible. These findings should discourage right-to-work policy initiatives. The fact is, while RTW legislation misleadingly sounds like a positive change in this weak economy, in reality the opportunity it gives workers is only that to work for lower wages and fewer benefits.
Yet the Koch brothers’ messaging machine was well-prepared to drown out any voices from the thousands of labor allies who rushed to the state capitol to decry the RTW push. As The Nation’s John Nichols noted:
Continue Reading CloseAs the Republicans launched the attack on unions and their members, Americans for Prosperity — a group developed and funded by right-wing industrialists and billionaire campaign donors Charles and David Koch — was in the thick of things. AFP recruited conservatives to show up at the state Capitol in Lansing to counter union protests and prepared materials supporting the Michigan initiative, including a fifteen-page booklet titled “Unions: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: How Forced Unionization Has Harmed Workers and Michigan.” Within minutes of the announcement by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder that Republicans would ram through the “Right-to-Work” legislation, AFP was hailing the move in formal statements “as the shot heard around the world for workplace freedom.”
Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com. More Natasha Lennard.


Comments
48 Comments