MichCapCon lays out more of the big picture here: it's definitely about the money.

Thank goodness for watchdog organizations!

If the graphs don't make it into the post, it's worth your while to check them out in the link.

https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/analysis/michigans-largest-unions-have-seen-plummeting-membership-over-the-past-decade

Michigan’s largest unions have seen plummeting membership over the past decade

Jobs and incomes are up, workplace injuries are down

By Jarrett Skorup     |    April 16, 2024

In recent years, most of Michigan’s largest labor unions saw massive declines in membership, despite significant job growth in most industries. The reason? A decade with right-to-work law, which gave workers the ability to choose whether to join a union, as a member or through a fee, or not.

The reports many labor unions are required to file with the federal government reveal the state of labor union membership, as do reports from the Michigan Civil Service Commission. Every one of Michigan’s 15 largest unions or so has seen a decline, whether in state government, schools, local government, or private industries such as construction or food service. But the declines are uneven. A variety of AFSCME associations, representing mostly state and local government workers, have seen a loss of more than half their members. The SEIU, which mostly represents workers in health care and local government, is down nearly 70%.

Despite job gains in the auto sector over the past decade and a highly publicized strike last year, the UAW branches in Michigan have lost 16,000 members over the past decade. Other private sector unions have seen fewer losses. These include the United Food and Commercial Workers (-8.7%), Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters (-6.8%), the Operating Engineers (-2.5%) and Michigan Nurses Association (-3.7%).

Losses in the public sector are much more pronounced than those in the private sector. The Michigan Education Association has now lost more than 38,000 members, or one-third, since the right-to-work law went into effect in 2013. The American Federation of Teachers branch, the bulk of which is in the Detroit Federation of Teachers, is down more than 25%. The Michigan public school system added 27,000 employees since 2012, but its largest employee unions have lost a combined 45,000 members.

The total number of public sector union members in Michigan has dropped by 80,000 since the right-to-work law was passed. Unions representing state of Michigan employees are down by more than one-third.

That may soon change. The Democratic-led Michigan Legislature repealed the state’s right-to-work law in 2023. The UAW and other unions representing workers for private employers can now require them to rejoin or pay fees. A 2018 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court means that public sector employees such as schoolteachers still have the right to decline paying or joining a union.

Repealing the law is expected to boost union membership and financial support for the Democratic Party. In fighting in 2012 against a law allowing workers to opt out, SEIU Healthcare Michigan President Marge Faville said unions needed the forced funds to “make sure Democrats get [elected].” Just before legislators voted to enact a right-to-work law, a local Michigan Education Association leader sent an email out on a public server to tell other public school employees that “[emergency management] is the future in Michigan with a Republican governor and Legislature” and union members need to “[get] everyone we know to vote for Democrats.”

In the run-up to the law, opponents of right-to-work claimed there would be dire consequences. President Barack Obama predicted there would be fewer jobs and lower incomes, as did Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (then a state senator) and others. State Rep. Brandon Dillon said “workplace safety accidents” would “skyrocket.” UAW President Bob King said right-to-work would “destroy ... the middle class.”

None of these predictions bore out. From 2012 to 2022, Michigan incomes increased from $55,140 to $61,683, despite the COVID recession — an increase of more than $6,000 per year after inflation. Median household income went from $45,859 to $63,498, or 15% above inflation. Michigan added 382,000 jobs. Occupational injuries declined by 28%.

At the end of June before summer break, this bill package passed the senate with a floor vote of 20-18.

Michigan Capitol Confidential reports on the details.

https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/news/bills-aim-to-return-michigan-to-bad-old-days-of-dues-skim

Bills aim to return Michigan to bad old days of dues skim

Voters soundly rejected this shady union funding practice in 2012

By Michaela Stiles | July 8, 2024

Michigan home health care workers might have to go back to giving up part of their paychecks to a union if two bills passed by the state Senate become law.

Senate bills 790 and 791 aim to revive the dues skim, in which a union takes money from Michigan home health care workers, most of whom are private people who get small public reimbursements for caring for elderly or disabled family members.

From 2004 to 2013, Care Council legislation created a fictional employment relationship between home health care providers and the state, allowing the Service Employees International Union to take millions of dollars from federal stipends. The practice was never popular with Michigan home health care providers, with only 20% voting for unionization in 2005. Over nine years, dues skimmed just from Medicaid checks totaled more than $31 million.

The practice came to an end after the Mackinac Center brought the practice to wide public attention. The Legislature defunded the Care Council in 2011. The SEIU tried to continue the skim by funding the council for another two years, allowing the union to collect an additional $12 million. But Michigan voters roundly rejected the practice when unions put the issue on the ballot as Proposition 4 of 2012.

Organized labor outspent opposition by a factor of more than four to one, putting almost $16.5 million into the ballot initiative. But voters rejected Prop 4 in a 57-43% vote, and dues skim came to an end in 2013.

But the bills passed by the Senate would reinstate this practice.

Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, rallied with the SEIU at the state Capitol after the vote.

“The Senate just passed legislation that will help us build a home care system that works for everyone — a system where every family can access quality care and where caregivers no longer have to lay awake at night worrying about how to make ends meet,” Hertel posted on social media.

The union has donated to Hertel’s campaign and those of Michigan’s top three elected officials.

In 2022, the Michigan State SEIU Council donated $21,000 to Hertel’s campaign. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has received over $107,000. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel each received $71,500 in 2022.

In 2008, SEIU spent $85 million to support the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. This year, SEIU has promised $200 million to President Joe Biden and other Democratic campaigns.

The Legislature sets stipends for home care providers, and spending on home health services has skyrocketed recently, rising by 38.1% from 2012-13 to 2023-24.

Michigan lawmakers could have given home health care providers a raise without enacting a mandatory union, said Patrick Wright, the vice president for legal affairs at the Mackinac Center.

“The legislators had and used the ability to give home help providers raises and extra appropriations without a mandatory union,” Wright said in a statement. “All a union will allow is for millions to tens of millions to be skimmed for union officials and politicians.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Governor Whitmer took time out of her busy anti Catholic video taping schedule to sign Michigan SB 790 & SB 791 into law.  SEIU will now steal a percentage of home health care workers meager pay under the guise of "protecting workers’ rights":

https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/press-releases/2024/10/08/gov-whitmer-signs-bills-to-protect-home-care-workers-rights

Gov. Whitmer Signs Bills to Protect Home Care Workers’ Rights, Expand Access to Healthcare in Rural Michigan, and More

October 08, 2024

Gov. Whitmer Signs Bills to Protect Home Care Workers’ Rights, Expand Access to Healthcare in Rural Michigan, and More

LANSING, Mich. -- Today, Governor Whitmer signed 17 bills into law. These bills bolster Governor Whitmer’s commitment to making Michigan the best place to live, work, and invest by ensuring our Michiganders have the support they need to thrive whether they’re going to work or accessing healthcare. These bills work to increase access to vital services and put more money back in Michiganders’ pockets. 

“These bills will make a real difference in people’s lives by expanding access to healthcare, protecting workers’ rights, and putting money back in Michiganders’ pockets,” said Governor Whitmer. “From ensuring 35,000 home care workers can bargain for better pay and benefits to ensuring every Michigander can access quality healthcare regardless of their zip code, let’s keep working together to make sure that everyone can make it in Michigan.”

Senate Bill 790 and 791, sponsored by state Senators Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) and Sylvia A. Santana (D-Detroit) allows individual homehelp caregivers in Michigan to unionize. These bills will support workforce development, expand training, and restore bargaining rights for 35,000 home care workers in Michigan. 

“From automotive factories to the food service industry, we’ve seen that workers can negotiate for better wages and working conditions when they’reunited together as one. Individual homecare workers deserve nothing less than the ability to collectively bargain just as workers in all other sectors have,” said state Senator Kevin Hertel. “With this legislation, we are ensuring these essential workers have the tools they need to secure higher wages, better benefits, and pathways for professional development. They’ve been there for our families when we’ve needed them most; this is our opportunity to be there for them.”

“With the signing of Senate Bill 791 and its companion SB 790, we’re providing essential support to our homecare workers. These caregivers are a vital part of the safety net for our most vulnerable residents, and their contributions to our communities cannot be overstated,” said state Senator Sylvia Santana. “Thank you to the Governor and my colleagues in the Legislature for helping deliver such crucial support to our caregivers.”

Senate Bill 701, sponsored by state Senator Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) supports health care access in rural Michigan by amending restrictions on the funding Michigan hospitals can receive. The bill eliminates the definition of “critical access hospital” and modifies the definition of “rural hospital.” It also raises the population limit to be considered a “rural hospital” to include counties with 195,000 people or less, adding Livingston, Muskegon, and Saginaw counties to the rural hospital pool. 

“It is critical that we ensure our rural hospitals have the funding and resources they need to provide quality care to the communities that rely on them,” said state Senator Sam Singh. “The legislation signed by Gov. Whitmer today ensures equitable funding for Memorial Healthcare and the many other hospitals across our state serving rural communities.”....