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As Mich. Becomes 24th Right-to-Work State, Is This the Beginning of the End of Union Influence?

Dec. 12, 2012 9:00am Becket Adams

Credit dannybirchall/flickr

In a move that’s sure to infuriate and dishearten union leaders everywhere, Michigan became the 24th right-to-work state on Tuesday after Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law two bills that prohibit unions from collecting fees from nonunion employees.

“I have signed these bills into law,” the Republican governor said at a press conference a few hours after the House passed the bills. “We are moving forward on the topic of workplace fairness and equality.”

“I don’t view this as anti-labor. I view this as pro-worker,” he added.

A bill dealing with private-sector workers passed the House on a 22-16 vote last week after hours of “impassioned debate,” as the Associated Press puts it. All 12 House Democrats opposed the bill. Four Republicans joined them.

“Moments after it passed, the Senate passed a bill with similar provisions for government employees. Democrats walked out before the bill was approved on a 22-4 vote,” the AP adds.

All that remained after last week’s events was for the Michigan Legislature to reconvene for one final vote and for Gov. Rick Snyder to sign the bills into law.

And sign he did.

Mich. Passes Right to Work Legislation, What Does this Mean for the Future of Unions?

Workers protesting the right-to-work proposal in Michigan. (AP)

But here’s the thing: Michigan’s switch from unionism to right-to-work comes six months after big labor’s pricey and failed attempt to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and 11 months after Indiana became the Rust Belt’s very first right-to-work state. In short, organized labor has suffered substantial losses in what was once considered its backyard.

This raises the obvious question: Do these defeats signal the beginning of the end for unions and their influence? Like most things in life, the answer is uncertain.

“Democrats depend on millions — actually, billions — of dollars in support from the forced dues of union members. If that money supply were to dry up, or even just decrease, the Democratic Party would be in serious trouble,” writes the Washington Examiner’s Byron York.

That is to say, by virtue of the fact that organized labor (and organized labor’s money) favors Democrat politicians, any hiccup in cash flows could pose a grave risk to all future campaigns.

Map of right-to-work states (RTW in red)

“Unions depend on their money from dues for a variety of election activities, and the less money they have to do that, the less influence they have,” said Marick Masters, the director of labor studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, in a recent Bloomberg article.

“The recent election shows if you want to play the game, it takes money. The less you have, the less your voice will be heard,” he adds.

Indeed, considering the fact that organized labor lavished more than $188 million from January 2011 until October 2012 on federal-level political races, we’d say the recipients of union donations should be very worried about the passage of right-to-work legislation in the Rust Belt.

“President Obama was the recipient of literally hundreds of millions of dollars from union officials,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee. “If union officials can’t compel union workers to pay dues as a condition of their employment, the fees that they use for political activity would dry up very quickly.”

In short, laws that prohibit unions from forcing nonunion members to pay dues could make labor’s powerful role in U.S. politics a thing of the past.

U.S. President Barack Obama and President of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka joke about eating cake on President Obama’s 49th birthday. (Getty Images)

Unsurprisingly, the move by Michigan lawmakers has drawn scathing criticism from a host of left-leaning personalities, including President Barack Obama and President of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka.

“What we shouldn’t be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages,” President Obama told an audience of United Auto Workers (UAW) employees in Redford, Mich., on Monday. “These so-called right-to-work laws, they don’t have anything to do with economics, they have to do with politics.”

“What they’re really talking about is to give you the right to work for less money,” he added.

For his part, Trumka accused Gov. Snyder of being a “puppet of extreme donors.”

“Gov. Snyder showed his true colors today,” Trumka said in a statement on Tuesday. “His action will undoubtedly please the Koch Brothers and corporate CEOs, but it will diminish the voice of every working man and woman in Michigan.”

“To make ‘right-to-work’ a reality,” the statement continues, “Governor Rick Snyder ignored working Michiganders, the faith and civil rights community, President Obama, people in his own party, autoworkers, nurses, teachers, firefighters, the Detroit Free Press editorial board and voters. He listened to Grover Norquist, Dick DeVos, the Koch brothers and the extremes of his party.”

Meanwhile, Michigan Education Association President Steve Cook, in a none-too-subtle threat to lawmakers, on Monday warned of repercussions against anyone who supported the right-to-work legislation.

“Whoever votes for this,” Cook said, “is not going to have any peace for the next two years.”

Gov. Snyder (AP)

But despite all their warnings and vows to wreak havoc, it would appear at this moment that public opinion favors right-to-works laws and that big labor is losing.

Bottom Line: As long as organized labor continues to lose these right-to-work battles, its cash flow will dry up. With a loss of cash comes a loss of political usefulness and with a loss of political usefulness comes a loss of power.

Perhaps labor’s recent defeats have something to do with the fact that union membership has fallen precipitously over the past three decades. Or maybe a majority of Americans finally agree with the economist Walter Williams in thinking that, in a free and democratic society, association should never be a requirement for establishing a contract for employment.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Featured image courtesy the AP.

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Comments (109)

oldincarolina
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:47am
I would sy that this is the beginning of the end for the unions . All unions aren’t bad. The bad ones however make them all look bad. I can remember when unions were a good thing for the workers. Greed and criminals took over the unions and today the union thug bosses are about as bad as they come. When the unions no longer exist, because times have changed , the companies in our country will be even better than they are now. Competition will demand it. Not the unions.

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- OldSurfRat
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:01am
  Yep so true!
  
  Report this comment
- JRook
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:53pm
  I’m ok with the law so long as the workers who decide not to participate as a member of the union immediately lose all wage, benefit and grievance positions negotiated and obtained by the union. Such a law should also make it legal for employers to pay non-union workers whatever they like and remove any employee benefits they chose to. Rational logic tells you there can only be two types of people the post in favor of eliminating unions and allowing companies to backtrack on wage, benefit and work place safety gains of the past 60 years. Those who are paid by those interests that will make a lot of money as the US races to the bottom and those that are pathologically stupid. The two most influential factors relative to the US’s economic stagnation has been the decline in real wages since the 1980′s and the increasing concentration of wealth. Both of these contribute to significant declines in aggregate demand and consumption. If you want to understand why our communities, schools, universities, infrastructure, parks, etc. are and will continue their decline then take the time to really understand what is happening. Our grandparents and parents paid adequate taxes to build nice schools, provide affordable college, world leading infrastructure and great parks. The baby boomer and “Me” generation who benefited from these now see no reason to pay it forward.
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:00pm
  Mornin’ guys…..Like in all “collectives”, the myth that they can overcome ‘human nature’, and work for the common good, fails. There are dishonest, me firsters, in every group, and collectivism actually encourages their predatory natures. We can expose these rotten apples, but getting past layers of ‘legislated’ protections is the difficult part.
  Any company that signs a union contract, must cater to union demands ,first and foremost, which increases ,which is always passed on to consumers.
  We all saw what happened to Detroit, and all that decay can be laid at the feet of the UAW.
  Collectivism lends power to the worker, that many have neither earned nor deserve. One solution would be to bar membership in unions till a lengthy probationary period has past. Workers that are deemed productive would be eligible after vetting and training. This would force unions to nurture the individual through the probationary period, and hopefully this tactic would weed out some of the slugs.
  I think this would be good for the bottom line of the employer and the ‘reputation’ of union workers.
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:20pm
  JRROOK wrote”The two most influential factors relative to the US’s economic stagnation has been the decline in real wages since the 1980′s and the increasing concentration of wealth.” And like usual, I disagree with him. I believe that the most aggravating the ‘decay factor’ of our manufacturing base, is competition with the emerging manufacturing powerhouses in the far east.
  
  Report this comment
- LIBSALWAYSLIE
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 3:36pm
  JROOK, you simpleton! Unions do nothing for workers, its ALL for the power of the union bosses, Unions have nothing to do with safety, thats OSHA you idiot. Unions suck the life out of everything. JROOK is as dumb as a person can be…..
  
  Report this comment
RaydocX
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:41am
Unions were crucial to worker realization of fair wages and safe workplaces.
Government has taken over that role
Likely at some point in the future, after decades of more onservative congressional policy making,it will be needed again.
But for now, with a President and democratic pols heavily supporting unions, they are no longer there to protect the worker… They protect their own power and the power of those promulgating big government at everyone else’s expense.

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- Max jones
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:06pm
  Right…. and this becomes a multi-headed beast that eats capital and assures less ‘bang for the buck’, for the consumer. In Bah Rahk’s world, any employment is a blessing. Maybe with less power, the unions would do less damage to everybodies’ bottom line.
  
  Report this comment
normbal
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:05am
“All 12 House Democrats opposed the bill. Four Republicans joined them.”

Well now we know for certain who is owned by the union bosses.

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- mikem1969
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:18am
  dems have been owned by the union bosses for decades, so now it is abou time we start taking the corupt unions out of the political picture. 26 states to go.
  
  Report this comment
- Ghandi was a Republican
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:33am
  Can’t blame the Republicans. Once you have the votes it’s time to shield them from attacks later. That’s why obama always ‘voted’ ‘present’ or ‘no vote’. To shield his sorry azz so he could lie about his self later. In the case of Rs, you might as well play by the rules they play by. Dem/alinskys will take any issue, maybe a microcosm from a bill or even a statement and misrepresent it 5 ways till Sunday. It’s something very wrong with the system, where thew media is extremely complicit. But why throw yourself on the grenade? Remedy available- Never ever ever vote for a Democrat, in any way fashion or form. you risk putting them in the majority where you end up with Pelosis and reids (and obamas) in leadership. It doiesn’t matter if Jesus is running. you cannot put the numbers in the D column. That is one of the lessons of pelosi/reid/obama.
  
  Report this comment
- OldSurfRat
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:45am
  The real question should be which Rep voted against the right for a person to choose and get them out of office. They are fakes that simple.
  
  Bust unions and get your state to join those of us who live in right to work states.
  
  Its a great day for American workers. It should be a national holiday!!!
  
  Report this comment
- encinom
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:02am
  And we know who are the lackeys for the Koch Brothers that would vote away the rights of the citizens and the protections for the workers.
  
  Report this comment
- Clownzilla
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:24am
  @Encinom
  
  As a worker my rights were enhanced by this bill.
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:27pm
  I think you may have to define “work” for encinom.
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:53pm
  ENCINOM….Yesterday you were preaching on the greatness of the US, being due to “rugged individualism”….How does this union thing fit into that? Hurry, answer this, before the wind changes.
  
  Report this comment
- Mr Sanders
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 2:33pm
  Freedom & Liberty won again…. with more choices for employees and employers!!!
  
  4 Republicans voted with the DemoProgressicrats …. maybe their Establishment Rep’s?
  
  Like to here their rebuttal of the Legislation?
  
  Next time around, the Republican Party should clear the decks, get the Progressicrats out of the party, olde thinking out of the party [call them out] whilst starting again with middle to right concepts, Conservativism, grounded in the Constitution, and stand for real principles and values.
  
  Report this comment
- LIBSALWAYSLIE
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 3:48pm
  ENCINOM is clearly a dumb fool. In his paranoid world, the Koch brothers are the root of all evil, and all liberals are good decent people who are standing up to them. What an ignorant fool this moron is, he must have been dropped on his head as a baby, repeatedly…..
  
  Report this comment
forthepeople
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:03am
Reagan , Thanks to President Ronald Reagan and his firing of the air traffic controllers showed US that standing up was alright . I think this was the beginning to the end ( of unions ) . Funny they were developed to protect workers from bad business owners and the unions took there power to far the other way ( give an inch take a mile humans ) just as badly . For this reason and not really representing / caring about the worker as much as themselves and the union power ‘ They are History ‘. .

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- Ghandi was a Republican
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:38am
  Greed… It’s not really the private sector at all. The Dems are founded on it. They strategize with it. They bribe and blackmail with it. In truth- You cannot be in a power position int he private sector without being squeaky clean incorruptible. You are truly scrutinized to protect against it. The reason you can’t find a Democrat who can get a job in the private sector, unless and only unless it is inherently corrupt as with GE (immelt, obama’s job czar) and embedded in crony Capitalism.
  
  Report this comment
- themudflap
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:02pm
  People from California are not moving to Texas? So, all that I have met are liars? Not to mention, a government report just noted that California lost 100K in population last year andTexas is the number one destination of those from California with 58K moving here. We just hope they don’t bring their stupid policies with them. Texas is also pretty popular with people from Illinois, Michigan, New York, and other liberal states that are going broke. Jobs are not drying up either. Companies are moving here in droves due to our low state income tax. Oh wait, we do not have one. Get a clue. Unions suck and they ruin companies. They should be partners with companies and they are not. Nobody should be paying money out of their check to a union they do not belong to. It is amazing that some selfish idiots don’t see it that way.
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:35pm
  Liberal califonians would not enjoy living in Texas very much, so I would not worry about them bringing liberal traditions with them. The libs are going to stay in ‘paradise’ till it falls into the ocean. Could you imagine nude Gays parading around in waco?
  
  Report this comment
marybethelizabeth
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:02am
Workers vote to unionize. It is a choice. Employers don’t have to agree with a union. Union contracts are agreed to by both unions and business.

Now , in Michigan, employers don’t have to honor their agreements.

In California union members can opt out of contributing to political action campaigns. This part of union dues is less than $2 a month for a voice fighting for worker protection.

Right to Work is Fascism, a government/ business partnership.
America is worse off today than it was yesterday.

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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:12am
  No they don’t. Workers who are against being in the union are bullied, threatened and ultimately fired if they don’t want to unionize, that is why right to work is needed.
  
  Report this comment
- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:14am
  only a true communist would claim freedom to choose is fascist.
  
  Report this comment
- DZ-015
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:20am
  Lizardbreath: Nothing in the law just passed in MI allows employers to ignore labor contracts, nor does it impair the rights of workers to join unions.
  
  Report this comment
- Banter
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:23am
  Right to Work is freedom of choice.
  
  Unions are parasites that kill the host, public and private.
  
  Report this comment
- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:27am
  Really Warmunger_AL?
  
  Unions are the result of spontaneous generation?
  They just suddenly appear out of nothing?
  
  Maybe in Becklandia, but not here in the real world.
  
  Report this comment
- Deliverance_from_the_left_now
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:39am
  Go back and pay your dues you mindless liberal…Michigan was and still is going down because of the Nazi unions and California is collapsing as I write this…to get a job in those Nazi union states you have to agree to pay the unions in order to even get a job…now you can simply get a job and not have to pay more of your hard earned money that is going to be handed over to millionaire democrats like obama, and Pelosi…both who have not created one job!!! I live in Texas and we are thriving…why…right to work!!! Why are all the mindless Californians moving to Texas in record numbers…right to work!!! You’re a mindless zombie democrat…go pay your dues liberal!!!
  
  Unions = German Workman Party
  German Workman Party = Nazi
  German Workman Party leader = Hitler Union leader = Obama
  Obama = Hitler
  
  Right to Work = FREEDOM!!!
  
  Report this comment
- Ghandi was a Republican
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:48am
  Unions should not be int he public sector PERIOD! It’s like appointing their own negotiators on behalf of the public at large. That’;s jut the way it is. The Government should compete for employees the same way the private sector does. Supply and demand. Pay and benefits will fall in line. IF you want wages UP, you have to increase the market demand for good employees. You do this by creating a good job environment. Democrats always do the opposite. Good luck trying to get a wage increase when there are 50 people looking to get your job. Guess what- If there are only 2 people looking to get your job and you are good at it- You will get the raise. In an employees market Walmart would naturally have to pay more, and they could do it because they have more customers to create the evil “profit” from whence all wages come.
  Other option- Join “the collective” and get what they give you. Let’s just imagine that everything was ‘unionized’. What would you have? An organization that holds your future in it’s hands and nothing you can do or say about it. It’s called COMMUNISM, where the State and the union are one in the same. You get to dig holes and fill them back up again, then go stand in the bread line so you are too tired to ever revolt.
  
  Report this comment
- Acena
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:54am
  In many companies you can not be employed unless you join a union.
  You think $150 a month ,in forced income withdrawals every month, that is spent on the democratic party and useless millionaire union leaders is fair ?
  
  School teachers who are caught molesting children,selling drugs and teaching communism are protected by unions. NY and Chicago have schools for “bad teachers ” who are neither fired nor turned into the law for criminal activity .They are “retrained.”
  How about they teach your kids ?
  
  Report this comment
- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:54am
  Mr. Deliverance_from_the _Left_Now. Many workers, like my nephew and his friends, who are highly skilled, and leaving Texas because the job market is drying up. They will be gone by the 1st of the year. Replacement workers will not be hired.
  
  Who wants to live in a State that sold it’s roads to a company in Spain?
  An overseas call to fix a pothole?
  
  Californians are not moving to texas.
  
  Report this comment
- bumfuzeled
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:08am
  Unions just extort money from simple minded weak willed workers. Workers with drive and ambition move to RTW states to prosper. Look at the RTW map again, these are the states with growing economies. Michigan will join us soon.
  
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- Dismayed Veteran
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:50am
  Mary
  
  Wrong. If an employer has a collective bargaining agreement with a union, both parties must honor the agreement, even in a right-to-work state. It’s just that the union can’t compel a person to join the union if they are hired into a position covered under the collective bargaining agreement. If a person choses not to join the union, the person is still covered by the collective bargaining agreement and the union must represent them.
  
  There are differences in meaning from mandated membership, right to work and at will. Unions truly hate at will since it gives the employer the legal right to hire and fire for any reason or no reason. This stikes at the heart of the union sacred cow: seniority.
  
  Seniority is an interesting concept. Unions claim it is job security. It really means two things, who will get a choice job and the order in which a person is laid off. It is not security from termination. It is just the order in which termination occurs.
  
  While most modern labor agreements have a clause that recognizes qualifications v. seniority, there is no protection for anyone if a business has to downsizes. There have been enough arbitrations that recognize qualifications can trump seniority if an employer needs a skill set to operate. I have seen people who have had 30 years of seniority at an unskilled job be the first to go in a layoff.
  
  Report this comment
- bamamontana
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:35pm
  No, you’re absolutely incorrect Marybethelizabeth. I, too, live in a non right- to- work state, and I am being forced to pay almost $100/month in union dues. If Montana were not a non right-to-work state, no way would I pay this. Also, as a condition of my employment, I am forced to contribute $2.00/hr. to a union pension fund which has been mishandled for years. I don’t know if those funds will be there when I retire or not, but the union has forced me to contribute more each year to bail out the insolvent fund.
  
  Now, that’s just wrong.
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 2:03pm
  Mary elisabeth lives in LA LA land, where fact and fantasy are interchangeable to fit the situation. All one can hope for is her eventual descent into total psychosis. She’s half way there now and needs serious professional help. She won’t seek aid till she’s completely unable to relate to reality. So pray for her collapse, so someone can come to help. poor thing.
  
  Report this comment
- Gerewolf
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 2:03pm
  Wow you are a true partisan idiot.
  
  Report this comment
- ChildOfTheKing
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:05pm
  WRONG. SOME workers vote for the union and the rest who oppose, HAVE NO SAY. They are then, forced to join the Union or quit.
  
  GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.
  
  Report this comment
- James Capps
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:07am
  Actually all contracts will continue to be honored.
  
  If right to work is facism then for the first 100 years of our nation I guess we were facist. Facism by the way is the govt taking over business and try to make it look like it’s privately owned, about like what congress did with health insurance in this country. And the Student Loan program, and…. Actually just the opposite is true. Collective bargaining even by it’s own name is communist. It rewards the lazy and penalizes the hard worker, both get paid the same for unequal work. It brings with it no incentive for hard work.
  
  In a non-right to work state if you want a job you are forced to join a union, no membership/no job. True freedom is giving people a choice. Do I join a union that supports every cause I disagree with or do I keep my integrity and say no! Funny how just about everywhere unions are losing ground and the states without right to work are in worst shape.
  
  Report this comment
hauschild
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:56am
“As Mich. Becomes 24th Right-to-Work State, Is This the Beginning of the End of Union Influence?”

Considering the majority of Americans – AGAIN – voted for a Marxist, I would say absolutely not, are unions ever going away. They’re like herpes (in more ways than one); they lie dormant for a while and then pop out of nowhere causing various problems.

I’ve noticed that people these days are so quick to brush things aside and move on. “What’s that you say? The stock market is up 200 today? Well, that means everything’s good thru eternity, so I’m good – next?!?!?” I don’t know – it’s real unsettling to say the least.

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- barber2
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:09am
  Agree. The last 4 years of Obama I have been like a repeat of the 1960s : Radicals and disruptions everywhere . Even Ayers , the Black Panthers and the Black Muslims in a re-do. Bad times.
  
  Report this comment
- Tigress1
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:10am
  Are you really sure that Americans DID vote for the Marxist? Does it make sense that all the states are turning red, and they elect the most radical blue leader ever? How many people do you know that are that schizophrenic in their political views that they would vote Conservative for one political office and Progressive for another?
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 2:19pm
  Tigress….. The theft of the last election is very obvious to some. I believe it was a manifestation of the imminence of the evil reality of the coming global theocracy. We live in a world that operates just like unions. Self absorbed policy and lack of ethical conduct have wormed their way into the highest offices, not only in this country, but all over the world.
  
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termyt
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:53am
We are in the middle of the end of union influence. Unions have been in decline for some time now and have lived long past their usefulness.

If we still need unions, we still don’t need the unions we have now. I’m sure it’s not true for all unions, just like worker abuse is not true for all businesses, but unions, like the corporations they battle, care for little more than their own power and wealth and nothing for individual members or the jobs they are paid to do.

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willingtoupe
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:51am
I am pro Union but only the Union of the 50 sovereign States..

Right to work State or not, being forced to join a Union is Unconstitutional because another is forcing the will, not only to join a Union but to mandate to pay for dues (commerce/service) of that Union which certain workers don’t want.

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- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:19am
  When a certain number of workers express interest in forming a union, an election is held by the NLRB. A union is formed when the majority of workers agree to it.
  
  No one is forced to join a union.
  
  The workers vote doesn’t guarantee a union contract. The employer must agree to it as well.
  
  it’s a contractual relationship.
  There is no coercion.
  
  Report this comment
- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:24am
  they will just call it a tax…We don’t have the protection of the supreme court. The only “constitutional” rights you have left are the ones you will enforce for yourself, no matter what the “law” says.
  
  Report this comment
- willingtoupe
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:17am
  Ok then let the majority pay their Union dues…and those that oppose should just choose to opt out and have “The Right to Work” with no binding contract that is not wanted.
  
  Otherwise strike, walkouts, and picket lines are a form of coercion.
  
  Report this comment
- Dismayed Veteran
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:58am
  Mary
  
  If you are an employee in a position that the union is organizing and you vote “no”, you still have to join the union if the union wins the election. Your other choice is quit your job. In a right to work state, the employee may stay employed without joining the union.
  
  Apparently, you do not know much about working in a private sector business covered by a labor agreement. Just for your font of information, in right to work states, people who chose not to join the union can anticipate being shunned, having their cars keyed, their lunch buckets tossed in a toilet, having their houses spotlighted at night and threatened with violence. How do I know so much? My career was in Labor Relations. I saw this stuff every day.
  
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- termyt
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:44pm
  If that were true, Mary, there would be no need for “right-to-work” laws. If you are employed to work in a union shop with out the “right-to-work,” you join the union. Period. Whether that is right or wrong for it to be that way, it is coercion. Have you actually worked in a closed shop, or are you just parroting what the union masters tell you?
  
  And even in right-to-work states (and especially), those who refuse to join often face intense pressure as well as less legal methods to get them to sign on. Having your car vandalized or your home staked out is definitely coercion. Or is that just kindly union members keeping watch over their coworkers?
  
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- SovereignSoul
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 3:02pm
  Can I stop paying my ‘dues’ to the IRS but still enjoy the protections I enjoy by living here in the ‘union’ of these 50 states? I should have a choice whether or not to participate, shouldn’t I? Just because I choose not to participate, it shouldn’t cost me my citizenship or my freedom.
  
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Tigress1
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:51am
In a free country, people have a right to join a union if they CHOOSE, however, unions and other Communist-minded organizations are all about coercion and force. This law is common sense to people who have freedom as their best interest. Unions were created decades ago to protect people from working in sweatshops and unhealthy conditions. We now have laws preventing these things from happening. Unions served this purpose well years ago, but now they are obsolete, and are nothing but greedy, power hungry, political tools that are bankrupting this country.

What else is interesting about all this is that it is demonstrating that people are electing more and more Conservatives to represent them on the state and local level, therefore, WHY would they possibly elect the most far left President ever? It makes ZERO sense! This is just one more piece of evidence that adds to the gut feeling that the people DIDN’T elect Obama! Can you say e-l-e-c-t-i-o-n f-r-a-u-d?

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- barber2
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:05am
  Have a feeling it was in the soft ware. Deeply hidden. Like Obama’s school records.
  
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- Tigress1
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:32am
  @Barber2, I agree. Where are the Republican investigations? Is it taboo or something to say “e-l-e-c-t-i-o-n f-r-a-u-d”? Are the Republicans scared of something? Are they in cahoots? This election WILL change the history of our country, possibly irrevocably destroy it, and everyone is too wimpy to speak up or even look into the possibility of fraud? If Romney won, we all know there would be accusations of fraud from the Progressives!
  
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- Tigress1
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:45am
  @Barber2, I agree. Are the words “Election fraud” taboo or something? This election WILL change history, and possibly irrevocably destroy our country, and nobody is saying anything? Where are the Republican investigations? Are the Republicans scared of something? Are they in cahoots? Did the military votes EVER get counted? What happened in Virginia when the polls were kept open late and the results SUDDENLY switched to Obama after they were supposed to close? We all know if Romney won, the Progressives would be investigating and screaming “fraud”! Why are the Republicans so darn wimpy?
  
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- Tigress1
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:05am
  Sorry, Barber2, I didn’t want that last post to appear twice. It took so long to appear I thought it was lost.
  
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FeliciaJewel
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:47am
Maybe this means my husband can come home!! He is in Texas working, the loss of jobs in Michigan is unbearable. My kids have watched their friends move out of state so that their parents could work. It is not all sunshine and rainbows yet here in Michigan, we have a long way to go. Over 60 years of progressive leadership has nearly brought this wonderful state to her knees. The I want mine NOW mentality has taken it’s toll. Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw have paid heavy prices for the progressive idea. I am glad that we have the right to work. Though if Michigan does not get it together, I would happily move to Texas, I love the attitude of Texas. I was told that Texas is a “State of Mind”, they were not kidding…

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- CatB
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:03am
  Good luck to you and your family .. whether you stay in Michigan or go to Texas .. may you find happiness … from a FORMER Michigander … born and raised and “blown away” by Jenny’s first term to a right to work state. ;-)
  
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Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:47am
Obama and the unions have themselves to blame. States rights are being assaulted. States are asserting there defense mechanisms. unions have become machines of war on Rights all the way around. They install politicians and then do backroom deals with their fellow fat cats. Get them out of the Public sector. After seeing their tactics I just want them put into place, if they can find one. Apparently they know they haven’t earned one anywhere. They are fighting the wrong war. Idiots.

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TX_45_ACP
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:46am
Oh how I wish that union thug had attempted to punch me…

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- CatB
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:01am
  From the sound of it … he purposely did not fight back .. but has now told the thug to either turn himself in .. or meet him in a FAIR FIGHT … they have Id’d the thug also … Tony Camargo
  
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TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:39am
Caption for Obama / Trumka pic:

Obama to Trumka : “I give you permission to pick my nose. And in return… I want your permission to pick your wallets… through your worker’s generous donations. That’s fair isn’t it?”

Obama under his breath… “stupid human tricks. I love ‘em.”

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- ChildOfTheKing
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:59am
  It is all about CHOICE, which means FREEDOM (to choose). I am NOT opposed to unions per se, UNTIL they dictate what their workers should or should not do AND what the unions do with the members’ DUES (without giving the members’ a choice as to where they want their money to go).
  
  THIS IS A GOOD THING FOR MICHIGAN!
  When a member of a union tells you (because you are a right-to-work believer) that America is going backward in choosing the RIGHT-TO-WORK, then tell them that THEY are not PROGRESSIVE as they claim they are because being PROGRESSIVE means :
  1. Favoring or promoting progress
  2. (government) favoring or promoting reform (often by government action)
  3. (of taxes) adjusted so that the rate increases as the amount of income increases
  4. Gradually advancing in extent
  5. Advancing in severity (“progressive paralysis”)
  
  THEREFORE, progress means GOING FORWARD or ADVANCING………
  These union thugs are HYPOCRITES.
  
  CHOICE – THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE
  
  If you live in a right-to-work state and you decide NOT to belong to a union and pay their dues, THE UNION MUST DEFEND YOU ANYWAYS, even if you are not a member, if you are reprimanded or disciplined on the job. THIS IS WHAT UNIONS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH – it is also what I personally, have a problem with.
  
  Belonging to a Union just means THEY ARE WARLORDS AND YOU ARE PAYING FOR THEIR PROTECTION.
  
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huey6367
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:33am
This is a serious question. Are Democrats fn stupid? They walk out of the discussions? They realize that it can still be voted on in their abscense, don’t they? Didn’t they watch the stuff in Wisconsin?

But maybe there is hope for Michigan and the auto plants and other industries. Unions had a place at one time in history. But it is just that – history.

Wonder what Obie thinks of all this? (like I care what he thinks)

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- hauschild
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:59am
  Democrats on the whole are essentially stupid – their base are complete morons educationally and mentally. Their elitist side are academics that cannot function in a real-world setting – like Obama.
  
  So, I would put “stupid” second only to “evil” when talking about the average democrat.
  
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- TMOverbeck
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:03am
  I don’t believe it’s that way in every state. In some states, you have to have a quorum (minimum number of legislators present) before action can be taken. That’s why it took so long for Wisconsin to pass their reforms, there were enough lawmakers that fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum.
  
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1Corinthians13
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:31am
Will it? I hope so. Unions may have had good intentions when they first came into being, but it’s no longer about fair wages in a fair market. There is work which needs to be done, and forcing people to hire you (or no one), paying the price you decide, under the conditions you desire, and bending to your will in general has no resemblance to fairness and freedom.

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EqualJustice
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:29am
These thugs are not going down without a fight. They are already starting yet another governor recall effort like in WI. What a waste of time and money. They will end up with the same result. I seem to remember hearing “Elections have consequences.” Why don’t these progressives try reacting to a loss the way we are expected to…. SUCK IT UP and move on to the next battle.

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- barber2
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:47am
  Bullies and thugs won’t ” let anything go. ” That is part of their DNA. They are like the Hitler types : just Krystal-Nighting their way to power. They will only be stopped by public outrage or by an equal force against them. Is there enough of either in America anymore ?
  
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RIGS
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:29am
GEEZ!!!!! Only 26 more states to go………….HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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benrush
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:27am
So, let’s see, on one hand, money for government campaigns is bad, money for rich people, and governors, is bad,
on the other hand, if its UNION MONEY we’re talking about, then, not to have it, is bad? Sounds like they feel money is the root of all evils, when it belongs to other folks, but when it “belongs” to the union, they get all morally indignant and self righteous.

The facts are, folks, that the love of money is the root of evil. Which is why, we need to END the FED, as Ron Paul said. It’s not really money anymore, it’s paper. Funny money. “legal” tender, but with no moral backing.

Nothing intrinsic in it, to keep people honest. We have a dishonest money system, so its no wonder we have all this evil around us.

Let’s have currency competition. Let’s have no more national bankster corporations. Let’s just have honest money and solve our economic issues.

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- barber2
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:43am
  ” we have a dishonest money system.” No. We have dishonest people playing the system. That anti-capitalism / OWS baloney is NO solution. In spite of what the Chicago radicals proclaim …
  
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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:44am
  I always thought the lack of money was the root of all evil. When we return to the gold standard and we will,our financial house will be in order but we’re going to have to go through the next depression first.
  
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- Acena
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:16am
  Greed is the root of evil,not money.
  When you attach emotions to finances they system is bound to fail. Jealousy ,anger,happiness,fantasies etc are used to justify i neeeed,i waaant,mememe attitudes .
  Our country doesn’t teach or display a mature attitude about handling money.
  
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progressiveslayer
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:26am
They haven’t gone far enough in my opinion with this law and I know it’ll take many years maybe a generation to rid our society of the scourge of unions. Unions are as greedy and corrupt as our government and anytime you have a situation where it’s impossible to fire someone no matter the infraction you have a broken system that’s unfair to employers.Union busting should be a national sport and engaged in with gusto until all unions are but a bad memory.

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barber2
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:19am
Prepare for the Chicago radicals ‘ back lash. Remember Obama already told us that this ” isn’t about finances. This is about politics.” Obama was ” firing up his base.” The was Chicago radical-code for “let her rip, boys ! Anything goes !” ( another ” change ” brought by Obama : a president interfering with a very volatile , state issue . ) Nice, huh ?

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oicu814me2
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:18am
I went to work in Michgan in 1994 with a non union company that built electrical power plants. The local boiler makers has not worked in 4 years at that time. Alot of us were from out of state and glad to have the high paying job even tho it was temporay constuction job. About 1/4 was local boliermakers. After about 4 weeks the locals went on strike and when the job was finished 1 year later the locals were still on strike. I had a large amount of money in the bank and went on to the next construction job.

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Just_Us2
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:12am
As long as there are public sector unions, there will be too much influence. You cannot fire bad teachers, cops or firemen. They rape our kids, shoot innocent people and let buildings burn while they are on break. A cop asks a woman, “Do you know why I pulled you over Miss?”….”Because you didn’t go to college?”

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- ProudCapitalist
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:35am
  It is not just influence that is the problem, it is total corruption. The unions put up the money to hire Democrats politicians who “negotiate” with the same unions that bought them, for the wages and benefits their union members receive. The loser is the taxpayer and, of course, the children who are forced to use union teachers, good, bad, or ugly, with life tenure.
  
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ColoradoMaverick
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:12am
Contact Karla Swift with the Michigan AFL-CIO and tell her that if her corrupt union was adding value to the union employees, then they wouldn’t have to force them to join. This law simply gives people the CHOICE to join or not to join. The mindless lemmings (union workers) have been so brainwashed over the years, that they have no idea that the unions are not acting in their best interest.

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CatB
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:11am
Obama and the union thugs were able to steal the national election so they MUST be fought on the state level. The union in Michigan tried unsuccessfully to make collective bargaining part of the state constitution … and when that failed the state Representatives decided it was time to make Michigan a right to work state. I am proud of them to take on the thug unions in Michigan who have long since lost any usefulness to the people of the state. I am also proud to be a friend of one of the Republican Reps who helped to draft the legislation .. having known him from grade school thru graduation .. being raised with the same values. It is long overdue.

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oicu814me2
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:10am
The unions lost the right to steel

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- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:49am
  Funny you write “steel”…
  
  Unions are great at killing the goose that layed the golden egg… twinkies, auto and “steel” industry etc… etc… etc…
  
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