Right to Work is Wrong for the Midwest

Anti-worker legislators have been pushing right-to-work-for-less bills in the Midwest, while governors of these states—regardless of their partisan inclinations—are pushing back against measures that attack workers and job creation in a national election year.

Mich. Gov. Rick Snyder has called right-to-work-for-less “possibly the most divisive issue in the state” and that he does not “believe it’s appropriate for Michigan in 2012.” Anti-worker lawmakers in the state legislature are pressing forward anyway, promoting a law that will harm Michigan’s middle class without creating any new manufacturing jobs.

Anti-worker front groups are trying to get right-to-work-for-less on the Ohio ballot in November 2012, even though Issue 2 was trounced 61-39 percent just last year. Even a recent, poorly worded poll showed barely 50% support for right-to-work-for-less in the Buckeye State. Even Gov. John Kasich thinks most people misunderstand the purpose of the anti-worker initiative. “If people in this state feel that you need right-to-work, I don’t think people even know what that is,” Kasich said.

It is no surprise that the recent glut of anti-worker legislation has been fueled by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Minn. Gov. Mark Dayton has been clear that he—and the people of the North Star State—had their fill of ALEC’s corporate-written bills coming through the state legislature. “I’ve found that Minnesotans do not want their laws written by the lobbyists of big corporations,” said Dayton.