Michigan Education Association’s power is on a long decline

In 2010, the Michigan Education Association was near its peak. It had 155,000 members and $132 million in revenue. Its political clout within the Democratic Party was immense.

That year, the union threw its weight behind Virg Bernero in the Democratic primary over House Speaker Andy Dillon. It worked; Bernero won the primary. But the victory was short-lived, as Rick Snyder beat Bernero in a landslide in the general election.

In 2012, the MEA was still powerful. But that year, the Legislature passed a right-to-work law, giving Michigan public employees the ability, for the first time in decades, to refrain from joining or paying labor unions as a condition of staying on the job.

That started an erosion of the Michigan Education Association’s power, which continues to this day.

The union should have seen it coming. A 2006 survey found that about half of its members classified themselves as “conservative.” Despite this, the union endorsed and contributed almost entirely to candidates on the left. In that 2010 gubernatorial election, barely half of the MEA’s membership voted for Bernero over Snyder.

So when these members got the right to resign, they did so en masse. Since 2012, the Michigan Education Association has lost nearly 40,000 members, or one-third of its membership. Today, the total number of working members is under 79,000.

For context, Michigan has more than 114,000 teachers and 35,000 school support staff, about 15% more than in 2012. At least 150,000 people could be unionized by the MEA, but only half belong.

Resignations from membership and the occasional decertification of local MEA units have cost the MEA both members and revenue. Its revenue peaked at $145.4 million in 2011, which was down to $83.2 million last year.

This drop in revenue has had cascading effects. In 2013, the MEA had 42 local offices around the state. Today it lists 33. According to the union’s federal financial forms, it had 293 employees, but today it has 239.

Since the right-to-work law was passed in Michigan in 2012, the Michigan Education Association has seen a 33% drop in members, a 38% drop in revenue, an 18% drop in employment and the closure of nine offices.