Where Unions Went Wrong on ‘Right to Work’

Labor activists retool their tactics against the bosses.

BY Rebecca Burns

When Michigan became the 24th state in the nation to pass “right-to-work” legislation this March, local union leaders immediately swore to overturn the misleadingly named laws, which threaten unions’ solvency by letting workers who receive the benefits of union representation opt out of paying dues. In January, the state’s unions filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate right-to-work legislation, and labor has also vowed to step up campaigns against Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and other anti-union state leaders in advance of the 2014 elections.