Bills restore workers’ rights to speak with one voice to negotiate pay, benefits, ensure state pays a prevailing wage
LANSING, Mich. (March 14, 2023) — Today, Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) and the Senate Democratic Majority voted to pass Senate Bills 6 and 34, the Restoring Workers’ Rights package.
Senate Bill 34, passed in concert with House Bill 4004, will guarantee that both public and private employees at unionized workplaces equally contribute to the costs of union representation. With the historic passage of these bills, Michigan will be the first state to repeal anti-worker laws and restore collective bargaining rights since 1958. Senate Bill 6 will restore the state’s prevailing wage law, which ensures the State of Michigan pays a prevailing wage and hires the highest skilled workers available on contracts to build roads, bridges and schools.
“There is a wealth of information to support our action today to restore workers’ rights, whether you’re moved by the data and insights of policy experts or the personal experiences and stories of the workers who filled the Senate gallery today, who surrounded the Capitol in protest in 2012, and who make the businesses and local economies of my district run every day,” said Sen. McMorrow. “We all want Michigan to be a place people want to work, live and raise a family, and a safe, equitable workplace is a desirable workplace. These policies will benefit our working families, and in turn, our businesses, our economy and our state.”
According to research from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), workers in pro-worker states are more than twice as likely (2.4 times) to be in a union or protected by a union contract. Their report notes that average hourly wages are 15.8 percent higher and median wages are 16.6 percent higher in states without worker suppression laws—laws like the one repealed today.
In looking at Michigan specifically and the campaign to pass anti-worker laws in 2011, EPI also found that worker suppression laws have “no significant impact on attracting employers to a particular state” and that surveys of employers show that anti-union laws are a minor or nonexistent factor in location decisions, and that higher-wage, hi-tech firms in particular generally prefer free-bargaining states. The research also shows anti-worker laws have no impact on the performance of state economies, and in 2011, seven of the 10 highest-unemployment states were states with anti-union laws.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers in states with expanded workers’ rights make $11,747 more annually. The Economic Policy Institute found workers in states with worker suppression policies earn an average of 3.1% less than workers in pro-worker states. This wage gap is particularly pronounced for workers in low-wage industries, such as food service and retail, who are more likely to be paid poverty-level wages.
The National Bureau of Economic Research shows how laws eroding workers’ freedoms are associated with lower wages and lower unionization rates over the long run. This legislation will also increase worker safety on the job and provide Michigan workers with the freedom to negotiate with their employer.
New poll results released yesterday by the Michigan AFL-CIO show that 75 percent of Michigan voters want to expand workers’ rights laws. Fifty-eight percent of likely 2024 voters are supportive of laws that guarantee employees at unionized workplaces equally contribute to the costs of union representation, the policy that SB 34 and HB 4004 that were passed by the Senate today will restore. Expanding workers’ rights was popular across the political spectrum, with net favorability at +56 percent with Independents and +33 percent with Republicans.
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