John James Announces Plan to Restore Right-to-Work in Michigan
Workers benefit when they aren't coerced into joining unions as a condition of employment
Candidate for Governor John James has announced that he would try to make Michigan a right-to-work state once again. It’s a great idea that promotes business growth while supporting worker freedom.
Michigan’s previous right-to-work law, which was repealed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Democrat-controlled Legislature, allowed workers to opt out of paying union dues at unionized workplaces.
I’m not anti-union. And neither is right-to-work.
If you feel the need to be part of a union, you can still do that under James’ proposed restoration of right-to-work. I have talked to many people who say their union stood by them when no one else had their back. I’m grateful they had someone in their corner.
I’ve also talked to people who disagreed with their union’s ideology. They couldn’t stomach the idea of paying their hard-earned wages to those with differing political views, so they tried to quit.
That’s why right-to-work is important. Right-to-work gives workers freedom to choose whether or not they want to be part of a union.
It’s easy to see why its removal was politically expedient: Democrats get donations from unions. And union bosses would rather get dues payments from every employee at a workplace, not just those that voluntarily sign up for it.
The repeal of Michigan’s right-to-work law put the welfare of unions over individual workers, and that’s something we need to fix.
Before Democrats repealed the worker freedom law, a 2022 survey found that the majority of Michiganders said they supported the law, even those who lived in a union household and from all political parties.
Unions can still flourish in states with right-to-work laws, but they need to earn support from employees instead of getting dues every month no matter what.
Making Michigan right-to-work again would be a massive win for freedom. The only people opposed to it are those who think they know how to spend are money better than we do.
Getting them out of power? That’s an easy choice.
