How Right-to-Work Affected Michigan’s State Employee Unions

Employees for the state of Michigan are represented by six main unions. Five of these were affected when the state passed a right-to-work law that went into effect in 2013. (The other is a union for state police officers, who were exempted from the law.)

These unions are the Michigan State Employees Association, UAW Local 6000, SEIU 517, AFSCME Council 25 and the Michigan Corrections Officers.

Here is a look at the percentage of workers choosing to remain members of these unions after they were allowed to leave under the right-to-work law. The data cover 2013-18 and comes from reports filed by the Michigan Civil Service Commission.

Right-to-work has had different effects on the unions, but all have lost a sizable portion of their members. This suggests that thousands of state employees benefitted from right-to-work by no longer being forced to financial support a union they do not want to affiliate with.