Four months after Michigan repealed its right-to-work law, a growing number of workers are filing lawsuits against employers for trying to force them to join a union.
Right-to-work laws ensure that employees cannot lose their jobs for refusing to join a union.
Even without these laws, the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME (2018) ruled that it is unconstitutional for unions to collect dues from non-union public employees without their consent.
But some unions and employers still try to force employees to join and financially support unions as a condition of employment, according to the National Right to Work Foundation.
Recently, Joseph Arnold, a Meijer employee in Sault Ste. Marie, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Meijer management threatened to fire him if he did not submit an application to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
“Michigan is no longer a workers’ rights state, but that doesn’t give my employer the power to dictate my options,” Arnold said. “It is unacceptable for Major to jeopardize my job, whether ignorantly or intentionally, because I don’t want to be associated with a union. If Major truly respected our rights, they would offer me all options, because it is the union’s job to advocate for my interests against the employer, not the employer’s job to advocate for the union’s interests against me.”
Meyer and UFCW did not respond to requests for comment.
“In the short time since Michigan’s right-to-work law was repealed, and based on the cases our foundation’s attorneys have already handled, it’s clear that Michigan workers need more, not less, protection from the coercive power of unions,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation.
“Employers, in collusion with union officials, often push the boundaries of the law to expand union power, regardless of whether workers want or have demanded a union.”
UFCW is Website “We’re working with grocery store workers across the country to get them the wages and benefits they deserve, all backed by a union contract.”
