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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By KRIS MAHER And MATTHEW DOLAN
Unions in Michigan are trying to fend off a push by Republican lawmakers to
pass right-to-work legislation—the latest in a string of challenges to
organized labor in one of its traditional Midwestern strongholds.
Separate right-to-work bills that would ban contracts requiring employees to
pay union dues are drafted and could be introduced in the Michigan Senate
and House this week, according to lawmakers.
Conservative groups that support the measures plan to appeal to lawmakers
Tuesday at the Capitol in Lansing, less than a week after several hundred
union members lobbied against any such laws.
Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican who has called the issue "divisive" and said
it wasn't part of his agenda, was in discussions Monday with business and
labor officials and state lawmakers, according to a spokeswoman.
"The conversation is here. Both chambers of our House and Senate are looking
at [the legislation]," said Sara Wurfel, Mr. Snyder's press secretary.
So far, Mr. Snyder has declined to say whether he would sign such
legislation if it reaches his desk.
GOP lawmakers see the legislation as an opportunity to make Michigan more
attractive to businesses. "I think our chances are very good," said
Republican Rep. Mike Shirkey.
In November, a labor-backed ballot measure known as Proposal 2—which would
have amended the state constitution to prevent limits on collective-
bargaining rights, including any future right-to-work law—was defeated 57%
to 42%.
Mr. Snyder strongly opposed that one, which would have undone several of his
initiatives, including an end to government employers automatically
collecting union dues. He has said he was dismayed when unions ignored his
warning not to pursue it.
Unions say the right-to-work bills would lead to reduced wages and benefits
for workers. Currently, Michigan has one of the highest unionization rates
in the U.S., with about 18% of workers belonging to unions, compared with 12
% nationally. As one of Michigan's biggest unions, the United Auto Workers
stands to lose a lot from the legislation. Bob King, president of the UAW,
met with Mr. Snyder on Thursday. A UAW spokeswoman declined to comment.
"The negative impacts of right-to-work legislation are lower wages to all
workers, not just union members, and reduced benefits and workplace safety,"
said Sara Wallenfang, a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO in Michigan. She
declined to comment on the negotiations.
Meanwhile, Democrats are considering trying to block key pieces of the
governor's agenda—such as new authorities to deal with broken streetlights
in Detroit, public transit in southeast Michigan and poorly performing
schools statewide—if the GOP pushes through right-to-work legislation
before the end of the year, according to a person familiar with talks
between lawmakers and the governor. But that threat may notbe enough to
change the course of legislation because the GOP has significant majorities
in both legislative chambers.
Unions and Democrats likely will need to offer more in concessions to
Republicans to hold off on right-to-work, but it's unclear what those
givebacks could be, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The Michigan standoff is just the latest in the Midwest. Earlier this year,
Democrats in neighboring Indiana failed to stop a right-to-work law from
being enacted. Unions also recently waged costly campaigns in Wisconsin and
Ohio; they succeeded at recalling an Ohio law that would have restricted
collective-bargaining rights. A similar law in Wisconsin faces a legal
challenge.
Earlier this year, Indiana, which borders Michigan, became the 23rd right-to
-work state and the first in the industrial Midwest, amid support from
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, a who had previously opposed right-to-work
legislation.Unions fought the measure. In 2011, Indiana House Democrats fled
to Illinois for five weeks, temporarily blocking the law.
Michigan House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel said leaving the state isn't an
option because Republicans would still have enough lawmakers to move
forward. He said there would be "some options" to slow the legislative
process, but declined to name them. "We're doing everything that we can to
try to make sure that we avoid this kind of divisive issue," he said.
Right-to-work proponents say they want lawmakers to act now.
"There's absolutely nothing to be accomplished by the governor negotiating
with the union bosses," said Brian Pannebecker, a spokesman for Freedom to
Work, a conservative group whose members include the Michigan Chamber of
Commerce. Mr. Pannebecker, who is also an hourly worker at a Ford Motor Co.
F -0.68% axle plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., added, "We have the votes,
and we want to introduce the legislation this week."
Write to Kris Maher at K********[email protected] and Matthew Dolan at Matthew.Dolan
@wsj.com |
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