by Bruce Walker
Approximately twice as many Michiganders approve of a right-to-work law than oppose it, according to a statewide poll released Thursday by TargetPoint Consulting on behalf of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
The TPC poll concluded 58% of 800 Michigan voters surveyed support the state’s legislation; 29% of respondents oppose it. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 3.5%; Michigan has about 8.2 million registered voters.
Mackinac bills iteself as “a nonprofit research and educational institute that advances the principles of free markets and limited government” and openly supports the law. TargetPoint, based in Virginia, is a full-service public opinion and market research firm offering custom design work.
The law was passed by the state Legislature and signed by then-Gov. Rick Snyder in 2012, taking effect March 31, 2013. Since then, unions in the state have lost approximately 140,000 members.
The Democratic trifecta elected by voters in November – the governor’s office, and majorities in both chambers of the Legislature – have signaled a desire to roll back right to work protections.
“This is the latest of more than a dozen polls showing that Michigan voters strongly support the state’s right-to-work law,” Jarrett Skorup, senior director of Marketing and Communications at Mackinac, wrote in an email to The Center Square. “These polls – done by pollsters from across the political spectrum – almost always show that Republicans, Democrats and independents across the state don’t believe anyone should have to join or pay dues or fees to a union in order to hold a job.”
Right-to-work laws have been enacted in 28 states, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus ruling rendered union shop arrangements for public employees unconstitutional in 2018. Right-to-work laws render union membership, dues, and fees illegal as a precondition to work in either a union shop or under a bargaining agreement.
“Voters will be expecting a lot from the newly elected Democratic majorities, but clearly repealing the popular law is not one of those expectations,” Michael Meyers, president of Target Point Consulting, said in a statement. “Not only is this law popular with nearly 60% of all voters, but it is also popular across all major demographics in the state.”
According to poll results, 71% of Michigan Republicans and right-leaning independents favor the right-to-work law, followed closely by 66% of independents. A majority of Democrats and left-leaning independents support the law, with 46% in favor and 40% opposed. The poll also revealed that 46% of citizens who voted for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer favor the law, while 40% oppose.
Perhaps even more astonishing is 60% of labor union members responding to the poll said they support right to work, while 34% answered they oppose it. Members of teachers’ associations narrowly oppose right to work by 2 percentage points, 49% to 47%.
“When even Democratic voters, including their most important coalition members, African-Americans, union members and young voters, support the right-to-work law, that tells us Michigan voters want this law to remain in place.” Meyers said. “Michigan voters of all stripes and persuasions overwhelmingly disagree with the idea that people should be forced to pay dues or fees to unions.”
Detroit poll respondents favor right to work by 57% to 30% opposed. Similar results were polled in Grand Rapids, where 58% of respondents registered their support compared to 26% opposed. In the Flint-Saginaw region, 69% of respondents supported and 18% opposed.
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Bruce Walker is a regional editor at The Center Square. He previously worked as editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s MichiganScience magazine and The Heartland Institute’s InfoTech & Telecom News.
Photo “Performance Evaluation” by Tima Miroshnichenko.
