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UPDATE, 8 PM TUESDAY: Michigan’s governor tonight signed two so-called right-to-work bills passed by the state Legislature that allow workers in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying union dues if they wish. SAG-AFTRA strongly opposed the legislation and issued this statement in response:
“This legislation does nothing but require that unions provide full representational services to people who refuse to pay their fair share of the cost. It’s freeloading.”
PREVIOUS, 2:27 PM FRIDAY: Remember when Michigan was going to be the next go-to state for Hollywood productions, with choice incentives that included an almost 50% tax credit on TV and film projects? It lured native son Sam Raimi’s Disney pic Oz The Great And Powerful among others to film there. Now, economic realities have led to heavy caps that have watered down the credits (the anatomy of one Michigan studio’s downfall was nicely dissected this week in the NY Times), driving away Hollywood in the process. Now Hollywood’s biggest union SAG-AFTRA is drumming up support to fight bills passed this week in the state House and Senate that would make Michigan a right-to-work state. That would make it illegal for unions to collect dues from non-union workers and is seen by local governments as a business-friendly law — 23 other states have done the same thing. Obviously, unions like SAG-AFTRA feel otherwise. Here’s what the Hollywood guild has sent around, asking members to sign an AFl-CIO petition to protest the legislation:
(LANSING, Mich. Dec. 7, 2012)- Yesterday the Michigan House and Senate passed bills that would make Michigan a so-called “right-to–work” state. There is still time to fight for union rights: Both the House and the Senate still have to vote on each other’s bills, and there is talk that such votes will occur in Lansing on Dec. 11. “Right-to-work” laws allow nonmembers to work under union contracts and enjoy all of the benefits of those union contracts without paying for the union’s services.
If the bill passes, Michigan would become one of the first northern manufacturing states to pass this kind of antiunion law and other states may follow. SAG-AFTRA urges Michigan residents to immediately call their senators and representatives and urge them to stop this bill from passing. The effort against this legislation is of nationwide importance. Anyone in the country can help fight this bill by signing the petition through the link below. Please help to stop this downward spiral that hurts all workers and depletes the resources at their workplaces.
The following is a petition that can be signed nationwide: http://act.aflcio.org/c/172/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=5112
Related: California OKs $100M Film-TV Tax Credit Until 2017; Is It Enough?
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If the unions were so great, you wouldn’t have to put a gun to people’s heads in order for them to join.
I agree Ivy… and I’m in Michigan and support the right-to-work. No one should be forced to join a union, let alone pay fees to said union they don’t want to be a part of. If you want to be in a union, wonderful, do so, but don’t penalize those who do not want to be in one.
If companies paid a fair wage and provided a safe environment to work then unions woouldn’t have to exist at all.
Exactly and that’s why unions are becoming extinct. Their time has passed.
So American companies now pay fair wages and provide safe environments to work WILLINGLY? The same corporations threatening to lay off workers because Obama won re-election? I must have been asleep, what year is this?
Love the quote: ‘full representational services to people who refuse to pay their fair share. It’s freeloading.” kind of like 47 percent of the American public (not to mention the illegal aliens). Thanks IATSE for a great 2014 campaign slogan.
There has been a lot of laws passed over the decades that protect workers
Unions, public and private, have become nothing but Political Action Committees. And it IS a right to work bill, with nothing “so-called” about it. People should always have the right to work without a gun to their head collecting dues. Every state that has passed this bill has seen wages RISE, so what are you Dems afraid of?
Does “right-to-work” require employers to let nonmembers “work under union contracts and enjoy all of the benefits of those contracts?”
My understanding is that unions are not required to represent non-members, but many elected to do so since they could collect agency fees (as opposed to dues – seems like semantics) from them. It will be interesting to see if this changes over time.
Many states are right to work states. Florida, Texas, all do major movies and minor with unions. This is a non issue. SAG should put more energy into things that matter to their members.
Fuck the unions. Got shut down in Ohio, and sent everyone home… They are their own worst enemy…
As a Michigan resident and a union member, I’m all for it. What’s wrong with choice? I don’t see the problem. The state house and senate passed a bill and its on its way to the Governors desk. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? Peace.
This is NOT an anti-union bill. Any union who can convince a worker that they are better off with the union than without is free to unionize that worker. They cannot, however, COMPEL a worker to join a union in order to find work in their field. This EXPANDS worker’s rights, it doesn’t contract them. It EXPANDS the freedom to associate, it doesn’t contract it. It allows a person who doesn’t want to join a union to not associate with the union. If freedom of religion also means freedom FROM religion, then freedom of assocation must ALSO mean freedom from association.
Why join a union when you can get all the same benefits without paying your dues?
Right to work means producers pay less, workers get screwed, and quality is sacrificed for profit. Unions demand a fair share of profit. Read ye history about the robber barons from the beginning of the 20th century. So f you. I hope you starve to death you union breaking bastard.
Please join the rest of us in 2012. Every state that has past a right-to-work law has seen wages RISE.
Not true. Right to work states have much LOWER wages on average. Most of the poorest states are right to work states.
Within the top 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates 7 or 8 are right-to-work states.
If a worker is non-union and there pay drops a little they could still be taking home what they were when they where in a union minus there union dues. There are companies that will also keep paying an employee what they were being paid when they were in a union and this person would be taking home more money since they don’t have to pay union dues.
Few people dispute that unions were necessary for worker’s rights with “the robber barons.” Are you aware that it is 2012? Labor issues in the 21st century are very different from those at the end of 19th.
I live in a state in which my job forced me to join a union. All my union “dues” are wasted on endless rabble-rousing newsletters that are sent to me and political contributions to candidates I didn’t support. I’m much happier in my union-less job now.
Amen, couldn’t have said it better! Hopefully more states will follow- I’m hoping Ohio follows SOON!
So SAG-AFTRA doesn’t like this because “it’s freeloading”. How ironic. The main reason Obamaroon got elected twice is because every freeloading, lazy, welfare sucking, gimme gimme gimme, liberal, commie socialist, and union schmucks all voted for him. Funny when the Dems had full control and rammed that crappy bloated who-knows-how-we’re-gonna-pay-for-it health bill down our throats, they thought it was just fine. Screw the other side. Ha-ha. Now the Republicans have control in Michigan and do the same thing and boo-hoo, our union buddies are upset that people won’t be forced to do what they don’t to or should have to.
Love the quote: ‘full representational services to people who refuse to pay their fair share. It’s freeloading.” kind of like 47 percent of the American public (not to mention the illegal aliens) who don’t pay any taxes. Thanks IATSE for a great 2014 campaign slogan.
So let me get this straight. You work side by side doing the same job, and one of you gets benefits and one doesnt? Or do both of you get the same benefits? But what happens if the non-union guy is fired, does he have grievance rights?
“So-called” right to work? No bias there at all…
Good for Michigan. No one should be forced to join a union. If what they offer is so great, people won’t mind opting to pay dues instead of having them automatically deducted.
Very simple, those that are part of the union get the union negotiated wage, benefits etc and those that are not get the companies offer.
That way both are happy.
Tears ago I worked ever so briefly as a union member for a large telecommunications company. I watched as many around me demonstrated mediocre performance at best and were rewarded on the same level as those who chose to over perform. I was reprimanded by our union representative for being at my desk past 5 p.m. as I was organizing my work area for the following day. After being warned that I could be fired for such an offense, I decided it was not the place I wanted to work. The madness of being “held back” because it makes the slackers look bad is exactly why the union experience leaves so many across the country with a sour taste in their mouths. In most cases, the unions kill ambition, personal achievement and merit pay. It robs people of the right to work without having money forcefully removed from their paychecks with no control over how that money is spent—especially for political purposes. The unions have become nothing more than money laundering operations for the democrat party.
Yes, “Unions kill ambition.” How thoughtful.
That means: ipso, facto, ergo, the “ambitious,” of the 98% who are NOT making serious money in this country, are NOT entrepreneurs, that 98% – and that wealth divide will only get worse due to lack of strong unions – you will have our AMBITION THWARTED BY THESE DAMN UNIONS!
“your time is past?” YOUR time is past.
I don’t know what unions YOU refer to, but –
I belong to 4 unions and my AMBITION? And my accomplishments?
Have ZERO to do with my UNIONS.
BUT, my former union, SAG, had my back on wages, working conditions, and P&H, you know – WHAT UNIONS ARE FOR.
Other unions? I can’t speak to, but I would say “serious union reform” is preferable to “every man for himself.”
Good luck with that. Cause, you know, they are just giving away jobs with good salaries and benefits out there in non-union land, to the unambitious bastards who made you sad. Jesus…
Experiences with SAG, AFTRA, DGA, WGA etc are very different then unions that represent workers in other for profit industries. Then add in the government union combination, and the average experience differs even more. Management in for profit industries (and this is not a defense of management skill or pay packages) act as a counter weight to unions during negotiations. Politicians have a different agenda, and often directly benefit from giving away benefits that don’t cost much today, but a fortune tomorrow – and this is magnified on the local city / country and state levels.
The bottom line is that Michigan Republicans did an underhanded thing. They got killed in the election. So the actual make up next year of the Michigan legislature could never get this thing passed. They used a voted out of office lame duck group to push this through. It’s good though. It will push people to get off their butts and fight for what’s right.