From Truth Out: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13391-the-conservative-agenda-behind-right-to-work-in-michigan
By John Logan
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
On Tuesday, Michigan became the nation’s 24th state, and the most unionized state, to enact right-to-work legislation. Thousand of protesters failed to dissuade Republican governor Rick Snyder from signing a law that will likely weaken unions and lower wages, but do nothing to help the state’s economy. Along with anti-union legislation in other Midwestern States, however, it could transform the national political landscape.
For the past two years, the Governor had publicly stated that “divisive” right-to-work legislation was “not on his agenda.” Then, at the last minute, he endorsed the bill because it would protect “worker choice” on union membership and help to grow the Michigan economy – both highly questionable claims. First, under federal law, neither unions nor employers can require employees to join unions in either the public or private sectors, so Snyder is professing to give employees a right that they already enjoy. The legal question here is whether nonmember employees in unionized workplaces should be required to pay an “agency fee” to the unions that are legally required to cover the cost of negotiating for them. Equally dubious are Snyder’s claims that right-to-work will boost the Michigan economy, as research indicates lower wages and poorer labor standards, not greater economic development, are the most likely results of the anti-union legislation.
So if right-to-work fails to advance employee choice or promote job creation, why did Snyder really throw his weight behind it?
Governor Snyder portrays himself as a pragmatist, rather than a right-wing ideologue, but in reality he has supported a sustained assault on unions. Early in his term, Snyder eliminated collective bargaining rights for almost 20,000 subsidized home-based childcare providers. In March 2012, he signed legislation prohibiting union representation for graduate assistants at Michigan public universities, and the following month he prohibited union dues for teachers and other school employees from being collected by payroll deduction. On labor issues, Snyder is a moderate only
when compared with more extreme Michigan Republicans.
The reason behind the governor’s flip-flop is that right-to-work is being championed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Americans for Prosperity, militant conservative groups funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. Following the Republican election victories in 2010, ALEC has pushed hundreds of anti-union bills in states across the country. It has promoted right-to-work in 19 states and succeeded in passing the legislation in neighboring Indiana in 2011. Now that Snyder has become a right-to-work convert, even the Detroit Free Press, which had previously endorsed him for governor, has accused him of “drinking the Koch Brothers’ Kool-Aid.”
Continue reading at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13391-the-conservative-agenda-behind-right-to-work-in-michigan
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