LABOR LOSS: Protesters packed the Wisconsin State Capitol in 2011 in opposition to restrictions on public-sector union organizing. Since the restrictions were implemented, the number of public-sector union worker has dropped 21 percent. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) In the hectic days of last December, as the Michigan Legislature prepared to pass a Right-to-Work […]
right to work
Posted inTalent & Education
MEA faces breakaways, poaching of locals
Just months after Right to Work was enacted in Michigan, Michigan Education Association local units are looking to depart the mothership. MEA NO MORE: Teachers in the Roscommon schools decided in 2012 to leave the Michigan Education Association and form their own independent bargaining unit. (courtesy photo) MEA leaders say local units have left – and […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Average Michigan wage earner is $5,000 behind other Americans
When politicians talk about Michigan’s “lost decade” of the 2000s, they usually focus on the huge number of jobs shed by the state. Michigan lost 863,300 payroll jobs between April 2000 and July 2009, at the bottom of the state’s downturn, or nearly one out of every five jobs. But a less-discussed element of that […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Labor says it will prevail, but RTW experts are skeptical
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Given recent events in Indiana, third-shift General Motors worker Roxanna Lucas was “not surprised” when Michigan followed suit by adopting a Right to Work labor standard. Lucas, like many coworkers at the sprawling suburban Fort Wayne GM assembly plant, sees RTW as nothing less than a calculated scheme to take down […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Indiana reaction belies pro-Right to Work claims
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — In the weeks after “Right to Work” became law in Indiana, Michigan-based Android Industries was anointed a poster child for the job growth state officials predicted would flow from the measure. Company officials insisted it was no accident they picked Indiana to open an automotive plant in suburban Fort Wayne in […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Political fallout from RTW deal yet to land
INDIANAPOLIS — With passage of Right to Work legislation imminent, Indiana Democrats huddled on a Monday night in February 2011 to plot strategy. The following morning, some three dozen state representatives bolted for the Comfort Suites in Urbana, Ill., trying to wait out a Republican majority determined to push the measure through. The move left […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Right to Work is no guarantee of economic success
By Timothy J. Bartik/W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Will “Right to Work” boost Michigan’s economic development? What does research say? Research suggests that the economic development effects of RTW are uncertain, with downside risks. Some studies find RTW boosts job growth, while other studies do not. Some studies find RTW reduces wages, while other […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
What you need to know about Legislature's 'lame-duck' session
A post-election headline in Bridge summarized expectations for an “active” “lame duck” session of the Legislature. We didn’t know the half of it. Ending at 4:30 a.m. last Friday, the Michigan Legislature passed almost 300 bills in the holiday season, including fundamental changes in how Michigan handles unions, business taxes, abortion regulation, welfare limits and even […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Policy reasons for exempting police, fire from Right to Work remain unclear
Michigan’s new Right to Work law presents a huge challenge to the future of unions in a state known as the home of the modern labor movement. But not for the approximately 1,700 bargaining units representing thousands of local police officers and firefighters in Michigan. Lawmakers who rammed RTW bills through the Legislature during the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
RTW law and referendum just won’t mix
Michigan is one of 24 states where the public can pass judgment on the work of their elected representatives via the power of referendum. But just as Superman’s foes found kryptonite could neutralize him, Michigan legislators have found their way to neutralize the referendum. The majorities backing Right to Work legislation included a $1 million […]
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