A historic first happening in Michigan. Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer just repealed her state’s Right to Work law. Michigan becomes the first state to repeal such a law.
In 2012, when the GOP had control of the state legislature, they became early adopters of the law. Right-to-work allows a citizen to not be a member of a union, but still be employed by a group with a large contingent of union members. They would also have representation in salary and rights negotians, despite not being part of the union that is in charge of it.
Echoing the classic left argument that unions are arbiters of human rights, Whitmer said, ““Michigan workers are the most talented and hard-working in the world and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”
The state house Republican leader, now in the minority, fired back saying, “Dramatically transforming our policies to harm workers and job providers will hang a ‘Closed for Business’ sign at our state’s borders and take Michigan off the list for future projects.”
Reason Magazine notes that in a Mackinac Center for Public Policy study, every state that’s adopted right to work laws has seen growth in employment when it comes to the construction and manufacturing industries. Gross state product also increased within each state adopting the law. And disposable income grew faster than states with no right to work laws.
Whitmer is certainly exercising her power with her new Democratic State Legislature. It makes sense for her as they haven’t been in power for decades. But after an unexpectedly strong re-election victory, expect Whitmer to steamroll progressive legislation as she aims to become a national, even presidential figure in the near future.
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