LANSING, Mich. — With Democrats and labor leaders vowing retribution at the ballot box and beyond, the Republican-dominated Michigan Legislature on Tuesday approved sweeping, statewide changes to the way that unions will be financed, substantially reducing their power in a state that has long been a symbol of union might and served as an incubator for the US labor movement.
As thousands of incensed union members filled the Capitol rotunda and poured out onto its lawn chanting ‘‘shame, shame,’’ labor leaders and Democrats said they would immediately mount an intense, unceasing campaign to regain control of the state House and governor’s office by 2014. But advocates of the legislation, which outlaws requirements that workers pay fees to unions as a condition of employment, lauded the day as a historic turning point for economic health in Michigan, and some Republicans predicted that their victory here would embolden other states to enact similar measures.
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More States need to follow Michigan. We must free workers from enslavement and mafia like extortion payments. workers have a right to work without gangster like forced protection payment. the new law will show just how popular unions are to workers and if workers love their unions there will be no decrease in union fee collections under the new law - so why the fuss?
Those who opt out should do their own negotiating and accept whatever the company feels like paying them.
I think unions are a good idea in the private sector, but they don't work in the public sector, especially in Massachusetts.
But even in the private sector, union membership and the expenses that go with it, should not be a condition of employment. Workers should not be forced to pay dues to support political positions they oppose.
Good for Michgan. Maybe now they will begin to get some sanity in the process. Why should I or anyone have to pay union dues when I do not agree with their positions? If you like unions and don't mind paying dues, you can have at it. Nothing will stop you in either Michigan or Wisconsin from joining a union. But they should not have the right to force me to join and keep me from working. I do not want their hands in my pockets.
There was a time a century ago when unions served a purpose, but they overstepped their bounds, often cutting off their nose to spite their face. They would rather see a company go out of business and lose their jobs than compromise. Just look at the recent case of Hostess Bakeries. I'm sure management had plenty to do with their failure as well, but it's becoming more and more apparent that unions are not facing reality and could care less whether a company and it's jobs survive.
Hooray for Michigan! It is time to end the forced campaign contributions of union dues as a condition of employment.
Corruption, illegal tactics, strong-arming, coerced dues, compulsory membership, threats, violence, over-the-top political influence. What's left to like about unions any more?
Too bad public-sector unions won't be the first to disappear...
Gonna be a lot of free loaders trying to load off union pay scale. Lot of beat downs coming.
My hometown of Detroit enjoyed a few decades of prosperity as the Motor City. But the greed of the UAW destroyed that prosperity.
The union argument that workers who do not join are freeloaders is not true. Unions will simply have to change their collective bargaining agrements to state that any worker who does not join the union does not receive any of the negotiated collective bargaining benefits. Unions always insist on representing the entire workforce of an organization. But this is not mandatory.