Every worker deserves the Freedom to work without being forced to pay dues to a union. It’s a simple concept, and one that resonates with a majority of Michigan residents. Even 55% of union households agree!

That’s why Republicans made Michigan the 24th Right-to-Work state in the nation in 2012. In the last ten years, three more states have joined the movement – and workers are seeing the benefits.

  • Right-to-Work states enjoy lower unemployment rates than non-Right-to-Work states; 
  • Non-Right-to-Work states lost 800,000 jobs, while Right-to-Work states added 1.6 million jobs;
  • Inflation-adjusted per pupil education funding was down 8.3% in the eight years prior to Michigan becoming a Right-to-Work state, and up 13.1% in the eight years following Right-to-Work;
  • Michigan’s labor force shrank by more than 350,000 jobs in the nine years prior to Right-to-Work, but grew by more than 90,000 jobs in the nine years after Right-to-Work.

More than 150,000 people have exercised their Freedom and opted out of union membership in the ten years since the Right-to-Work law passed in Michigan.

Workers deserve Freedom. Even the Supreme Court agreed in their Janus decision that public sector workers have a Constitutional right to free speech – and that they shouldn’t be compelled through union dues to support causes they don’t agree with.

More jobs. Higher wages. Better results for Michigan. After ten years, that’s worth celebrating.

HEADLINES ROUNDUP 

Mackinac Center: New Poll Shows Strong Support for Michigan’s ‘Right-to-Work’ Law as 10th Anniversary Approaches

Detroit News: Michigan third graders held back over reading doubled last year, report says

New York Post: Twitter — and Democrats — lied, lied and lied again about censorship

The Center Square: People Are Leaving Michigan in Droves

For Freedom,

Tori Sachs
Executive Director
Michigan Freedom Fund