MI Now Right To Work State!

anonomoose

New member
While unions contribute to the cause of increased wages for everyone...union or non-union...the south has been taking full advantage of all union states and they have been cleaning our clocks! To be competitive we needed to change the program.
 

whitedust

Well-known member
Hostess was the latest causality of 200+ collective bargaining agreements. Blew my mind that many unions involved in baking cupcakes. lol You can't send cupcake baking to China & make money so Hostess closed the doors. Now maybe Hostess will restructure in MI....who knows?
 

ezra

Well-known member
well if the trend follows other states that made the change MI should be seeing a drastic drop in unimployment
 

fredster

New member
I have lived in MI for almost 30 years and remember when the auto industry was king. Visited friends who moved to South Carolina about 5 years ago and was amazed - new home construction, a lot of people driving new cars, riding new motorcycles, lots of economic activity, etc....meanwhile here in MI the economy was (and in some ways still is) in a downward spiral. It was obvious to me that a ton of jobs had moved south and the economy there looked pretty good to me.

Like it or not the world has changed.
 

xsledder

Active member
While unions contribute to the cause of increased wages for everyone...union or non-union...the south has been taking full advantage of all union states and they have been cleaning our clocks! To be competitive we needed to change the program.

But Wikipedia states that residents of right-to-work states generally enjoy a lower COLI and higher real buying power then residents in collective-bargaining states. To me, I would rather have lower wages as long as I have more money to spend. I really stinks to earn more and have it taken away from you for something else for the benefit of the collective.
 

xsledder

Active member
I have lived in MI for almost 30 years and remember when the auto industry was king. Visited friends who moved to South Carolina about 5 years ago and was amazed - new home construction, a lot of people driving new cars, riding new motorcycles, lots of economic activity, etc....meanwhile here in MI the economy was (and in some ways still is) in a downward spiral. It was obvious to me that a ton of jobs had moved south and the economy there looked pretty good to me.

Like it or not the world has changed.

Thats because even though they have lower gross income, because they don't have to pay the union dues and other regulation stuff associated with most collective-bargain states; they have higher net income, which equals more buying power.
 

Skylar

Super Moderator
Staff member
Am I understanding this right? Before today, you did NOT have the choice of wanting to be in a union, and now, you DO have the choice?
 

xsledder

Active member
Also, in wages and benefits.


Wages in right-to-work states are 3.2% lower than those in non-RTW states, after controlling for a full complement of individual demographic and socioeconomic variables as well as state macroeconomic indicators. Using the average wage in non-RTW states as the base ($22.11), the average full-time, full-year worker in an RTW state makes about $1,500 less annually than a similar worker in a non-RTW state.
The rate of employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) is 2.6 percentage points lower in RTW states compared with non-RTW states, after controlling for individual, job, and state-level characteristics. If workers in non-RTW states were to receive ESI at this lower rate, 2 million fewer workers nationally would be covered.

The rate of employer-sponsored pensions is 4.8 percentage points lower in RTW states, using the full complement of control variables in [the study's] regression model. If workers in non-RTW states were to receive pensions at this lower rate, 3.8 million fewer workers nationally would have pensions.

Source: Wikipedia

You make it sound like workers in RTW states will earn 50% of a union worker in pay and workers without supporting your statement. If the union member's dues are over $1,500/year, the right-to-worker's net more take home pay in their paychecks then the union member.
 

xsledder

Active member
Am I understanding this right? Before today, you did NOT have the choice of wanting to be in a union, and now, you DO have the choice?

Illinois and Wisconsin are still this way, they are not right-to-work states. (And look what great (sarcasm) shape Illinois is in.)
 

bearrassler

Well-known member
I have never understood how you could be forced to join a union. ND has been a right to work state as long as I remember, and our economy is doing just fine, our wages are doing just fine. If you have jobs, the market will take care of the wages and benefits. Our unemployment peaked at a little over 4% during the downturn, and in eastern ND where there is no oil it still stayed under 5%. Most of us have health insurance, vacations, 401K's, sick days,etc. If they are not offered the employee can find a job down the street where they are offered. Out in western ND where the oil boom is underway, Walmart is offering 17.00 per hour and you can work lots of overtime, and I heard they have 170 openings. The market seems to be working.
 
D

Deleted member 10829

Guest
The unemployment rate in Right to Work states is 6.8% and in Non Right to Work states, it's 8.7%! Nuff said! There also is an income difference of about $4,000 in the Right to Work state over non. I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but it was like $46,465 and $42,425. Both of these stats are from the Bureau of Labor.
 

polarisrider1

New member
I can see were our Gov. Was going with this. Either your paying in taxes (working) or collecting unemployment and welfare. It is all about getting Michigan back to work. Not a great thing to do,but Michigan is no longer and has not been a manufacturing power house for a few decades now.
 
L

lenny

Guest
the country has been evolving but the unions demand to not change with their surrounding. Union wages and benefits are unsustainable in the ever changing nation and we are where we are.

I'm going right to "unsubscribe" from this thread,, and clickin it
 
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durphee

Well-known member
you cant really compare states just on union vs non union, that doesn't really say much. State taxes, environmental laws, credit rating, workforce education, location to resources, infrastructure, and other legalities are major factors. Even within a state, not every company faces the union vs non union situation. This law reversal maybe too little too late, depends on what the public does. Do you buy American made products? Apple announced they will build certain products in the US and not China now, will you purchase it? Does that even enter your mind when buying a product? Buy American, support union and non union products.
 
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