When one mentions organized labor in the state of Michigan, the United Auto Workers of Walter Reuther and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters of Jimmy Hoffa immediately spring to mind. Both of these former juggernauts of organized labor were headquartered in Michigan.
With the loss of industrial jobs, the unions have fallen on bad times. The crusher came this week when the Michigan state legislature under Republican control passed, and Republican Governor Rick Snyder signed, a Right to Work law.
The phrase is misleading."Right to work" means that one does not have to be a union member and pay union dues. While this law has been very common in the nonunionized American South and played a major role in attracting business to that region, it had not made headway till recently in other areas of the United States. Now nearly half the states (24) have such a provision on the books.
Labor unions claim that the bill, by weakening the unions, will work to drive down wages and is politically motivated. The unions provided many of the foot soldiers, as well as important campaign contributions, to the Democratic Party.
Governor Snyder defended the law as a measure that expanded choice and would force the unions to be accountable to their members. On an economic level, supporters of the measure claim that it would provide a job stimulus.
The unions may have overreached by mounting an unsuccessful and very expensive campaign to make collective bargaining part of the state constitution. When they failed, their opponents saw an opportunity for a quick counterstrike.
The unions and Democratic legislators have promised a payback in the 2014 elections. They claim that Republicans have not absorbed the lessons of their recent presidential election defeat and in the next election cycle, particularly in the governors' races, they intend to prove that organized labor has not been defanged.