A state senator in Michigan is calling for action on a Right to Work bill there, in order to remain competitive with Indiana in the hunt for new jobs.

“We worked hard in this past year to redesign our entire (Michigan) tax structure so that it is more competitive and in fact, it gave us a competitive advantage over Indiana in many ways, this is Indiana’s response, in my opinion, and it’s a response that I think will likely show success,” said Michigan Senator John Proos, (R) St. Joseph.

While Senator Proos would like to see Michigan become a Right to Work state, the reality is that Michigan has twice as many union workers as Indiana, and Michigan has one worker who doesn’t support Right to Work—who just so happens to be the governor.

“I don’t agree with Governor Snyder on much, but I do respect the idea that he sees that this is a divisive issue and he wants to fix problems, and not create divisions and that’s what this is,” said Jim Hahn, the former President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenter’s Union Local 525. “We’re not going to get out of this mess by making Michigan more like Mississippi.”

With a statewide Right to Work debate apparently out of the question, Senator Proos has filed a bill that would allow right to work to be imposed on a town by town, county by county, and city by city basis.

“I think we should have at least the opportunity to allow those local municipalities to make the decision, particularly on the border, we’re so close to Indiana and we compete every day against our friends in Indiana,” Sen. Proos said.

Senator Proos actually filed his bill about a year ago and it has yet to receive a hearing. He is hoping to change that in light of the action taken in Indiana.

“It’s the camel’s nose under the tent, you know, you get Right to Work zones and then the zones expand and pretty soon it’s a statewide thing,” said Hahn.
Michigan is the birthplace of the union movement and you know by virtually any measure workers in Right to Work states have lower quality of life, lower wages, less educational attainment, higher drop out rate, less access to health care.”

In Michigan, 16.5 percent of all workers belong to a union, compared to 10.9 percent in Indiana.

There are 627,000 union workers in Michigan, but just
279,000 in Indiana. “Money in the pockets of working people is what creates jobs,” said Jim Hahn. “Right to Work is precisely the wrong prescription; it goes after what little remains in the pockets of working people.”