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Fighting 'Right to Work' Legislation .                    Mike Parker on the legislative push for "Right to Work". .

Right to Work “for Less” Editorial Opinion
By Mike Parker

The new Republican Party majority in the Michigan House of Representatives has targeted the paychecks of all workers for attack.

In mid-January, the Republican Party majority introduced Right to Work “for Less” legislation in the Michigan Legislature, and this action will certainly lead to labor strife as union members are backed into a corner and will be fighting for economic survival.

The legislation allows for “free riders” and does nothing more than attack union members’ paychecks and benefits.

Cloaked as a bill of reform to save the state’s economy, it simply serves as a vehicle to drive down wages and benefits of all Michigan workers. Those who will suffer will not only be those who are represented by the more than 700 labor unions in the state, but also the unrepresented worker whose wages and benefits will be lowered by the downward pressures this law would create.

This bill will harm Michigan’s fragile economy and create labor instability for years to come as workers react. Legislators who have put this bill forward simply need to know that members of organized labor will not allow this assault on their paycheck and standard of living.

Legislators should understand that this bill’s introduction only targets Michigan for a bitter and protracted fight, and instead of working with organized labor to begin the process of rebuilding this great state, they have taken the most offensive stance possible at the beginning of a new term.

Union workers have not created the economic strife that Michigan has endured. It was caused by the excesses of Wall Street. And to attack and vilify the right of representation, collective bargaining, grievance procedure, decent wages, and good benefits only makes workers in this state wonder why they should come under this brutal attack. This is not what the working class voted for in November 2010.

Right to Work “for Less” legislation is not the right to work, but is an attack on our communities. It needs to be recognized as such. It goes against common sense to believe that legislation that is designed to lower wages and strip benefits is good for the State of Michigan, our neighborhoods, or our local communities.

Michigan will not improve its economy by making its working class even poorer.

This places labor union members, all of whom are your neighbors, into a position where we have no other choice but to fight for the survival of our paychecks, our communities, our voice and most importantly, our families.

These same union members and their families are the same people who shop at the local grocer, attend church down the street, get their hair cut at the local barber, and get their auto fixed by the local mechanic.

It is union wages that are supporting local communities throughout the 83 counties of this great state.

In closing, Michigan should invest in Michigan businesses and workers, so House Speaker Jase Bolger and our new leadership should favor laws that will move us forward instead of recklessly steering Michigan into a conflict through ill advised legislation such as Right to Work “for Less.”

Fraternally,

Mike Parker
Secretary Treasurer/Principal Officer
Teamsters Local 580