Local business responds to Right to Work law – abc12.com
The company employees 170 people. Most are union members. “Out of the 53 years that we have been unionized, that relationship has been excellent, and there’s been good give and take on both sides for years. I think it’s about the level of trust there that you have with your employees and the unions that represent them.”
Michigan is the twenty-fourth state to enact right to work laws. UM-Flint professor Marcus Paroske said research shows they will have little impact on current businesses. “What tends to happen in businesses that already have well established union culture, few of the employees chose not to pay dues, it will probably have a small impact on businesses. The much bigger impact will be whether you want to open a new tool and die shop.”
Landaal admits there may be some challenges in the future once the dust settles, but he doesn’t believe it will be between the company and its workforce. “We’re not going to treat our employees as two separate groups and have different rules for unionized or not unionized. I think the unions challenge is going to be show the workers that by being a member of a union that there’s value in that for the dues that they pay. I think there probably is.”
Paroske said the law specifies that an employee who opts out of paying dues gives up two rights – voting in union elections and ratifying a contract. Everything else is treated the same.