A rise in Michigan's minimum wage law scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021 probably won't happen, due to a provision in the law that halts increases when unemployment rates meet a specific level.

The law initiated by a statewide petition drive in 2018 suspends scheduled increases if the annual unemployment rate rises above 8.5%. The rate in Michigan from January through October 2020 is running at 10.2%.

The announcement was made by the Michigan Bureau of Employment Relations.

Michigan’s minimum wage is currently $9.65 an hour. It is scheduled to increase to $9.87 an hour, but this is not likely to happen now.

On Dec. 9, 2012, the Detroit Free Press published several letters to the editor that criticized a recently passed right-to-work bill in Michigan. This bill, which took effect in early 2013, made it unlawful in the state for employers to require workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

Under a headline that read: “The right to work for less,” activist and public school teacher Greg Talberg said, “Right-to-work legislation will have a devastating impact on the already shrinking Michigan middle class. … Without powerful unions, middle-class worker are powerless to demand fair wages and benefits. In a system driven by greed, the only way to get fair wages is to demand and bargain for them; they won’t simply be given based on a sense of justice on the part of management.”

Eight years ago, on Dec. 11, 2012, then-Gov. Rick Snyder signed the right-to-work legislation into law.

From 2012 to 2019, inflation-adjusted personal income in Michigan increased from $43,493 to $49,228, a 13.2% real increase.