Lee Adler, a public-sector union expert and researcher at Cornell’s ILR School, discusses options available to Michigan labor unions as the state moves toward passage of a right-to-work law.
He says:
“Republicans in Michigan are succeeding with a legislative effort to pass a right-to-work law. That means that workers not only do not have to join unions organized at their workplace, but also can demand union representation without being dues-paying members. This effort is surely Republican payback for unions’ and Democrats’ failed effort to gain constitutional protection for collective bargaining in November.
“The unions’ vow to fight this is understandable, but following the collective bargaining election defeat, and with the Michigan House, Senate and Governor’s Office all Republican controlled, it is hard to locate where their traditional leverage might be. However, if the Michigan unions are able to organize resistance beyond their membership, and UAW President Bob King suggested this, then they may undertake this fight in a different way, perhaps by going into the streets. That would be a very different approach.”
RSS