Union Exec Claims Posting Names of Workers Who Opted Out Serves As Membership Reminder for Others

Workers who left the union not buying his answer; say it's an intimidation tactic

By Tom Gantert | February 28, 2014

A top labor official told MLive recently that the public posting of names of union members who opted out of the union serves as a membership renewal reminder to other union members.

Lawrence Roehrig, international vice president of AFSCME and secretary treasurer of Michigan AFSCME Council 25, made his comments in an MLive story that appeared after Michigan Capitol Confidential broke the news that AFSCME Hurley Medical Center Employees Local 1603 posted the names of workers who exercised their rights and left the union as part of the state's right-to-work law.

"You're not harassing them," Roehrig was quoted by MLive as saying. "It gives you an indication of who's paying and who isn't."

But two of the former union members who were on the list aren't buying Roehrig's explanation that it's a legitimate way to remind workers about their membership status.

Kollin VanDenHeuvel said he had to sign paperwork saying it was his choice to leave the union and he had to turn it in to the Human Resources department. He said in an email the union knows that the people on the list didn't forget but chose to opt out.

Another former union member at the hospital, Sondra Ellison, said Roehrig was trying to cover for the union's actions so it didn't look like union intimidation. She said there was no way to forget to pay her dues because they were taken out via payroll deduction for 26 years. She said she also had to fill out a two-page form to opt out of the union.

"They just did it to deter other people from opting out," Ellison said. "They didn't come to me and say, 'Well, I see you opted out. You had been in the union for 26 years. What happened?' "

Ellison said she left purely for financial reasons. Her union dues were $40 a month.

"I had to make some tough decisions. I don't see why I should be punished," she said. "Just because I signed an opt-out form, that means I opted out to my right to privacy, too?"

Roehrig didn't respond to a request for comment.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

What Right-to-Work Means

A view from a union contract

By Michael Van Beek | February 27, 2014

One could hear several varieties of apocalyptical claims while Michigan was in the process of becoming the 24th right-to-work state in the nation.

Rep. Sander Levin called it "frightful ... for the people of the state of Michigan and for the middle class." The Associated Press said it was a "devastating and once-unthinkable defeat to organized labor." And one union in Michigan claimed it was "a violation of the prohibitions against involuntary servitude." In other words, a form of slavery.

Now that the law is in effect, however, and one can see what right-to-work actually does in practice, these claims seem way out of line. Right-to-work is actually quite simple. It prohibits employers from forcing employees to join or pay a fee to a union to keep their job.

The teachers union contract from the Spring Lake school district demonstrates this change. Here's what its pre-right-to-work contract stipulated: "The [school board] agrees that it shall be a condition of employment that all teachers" do one of the following: 1) "[J]oin the Association and pay the periodic dues ... or; 2) not ... join the Association but ... pay it a representation fee in an amount established in accordance with Union procedures." If teachers still failed to pay the fee, however, the school board agreed to "deduct [it] from the [teacher's] wages and remit same to the Association."

Essentially, the option was join or not join, but either way, pay the union. And if you couldn't do that on your own, it was done for you.

The new Spring Lake contract language regarding union membership is very different, but not nearly as radical or detrimental as some critics of right-to-work made this policy out to be. It simply states: "Teachers shall either elect to join the Association and pay the periodic dues, or teachers may elect not to join the Association and not pay dues."

As this contract demonstrates, right-to-work primarily impacts the relationship between employees and their unions. It gives individuals an opportunity to refuse to financially support an organization they do not feel compelled to support. In other words, it establishes unions as voluntary associations, instead of forced associations.

As Vinnie Vernuccio, director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, put it: "Right-to-work does not affect collective bargaining in any way except to take away unions' ability to fire workers for not paying them. It makes unions accountable to their members."

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

Follow us on social media!

Push back on big government “solutions” by becoming a fan of us on Facebook and X. Plus you can share free-market news to your network!

Facebook

I already follow CapCon!