Unions Losing Favor - In Michigan?

Even in Michigan, a state dominated for decades by unions, they've come undone.

Do voters support the state’s Emergency Financial Management law which authorizes the governor to appoint an emergency financial manager to take over bankrupt local governments with the power to void union contracts? Yes, they do, by a 52%-35% margin. EFMs have been appointed in four cities and two school districts, including Detroit, so far; Snyder has tried to get Detroit Mayor Dave Bing to take actions that will avoid an EFM for the city government, so far unsuccessfully.

Do voters support the law, recently passed by the legislature and signed by Snyder, to prohibit school districts from collecting union dues and forwarding them to teacher unions? Yes, by a 46%-40% margin. When checkoffs have been abolished, as was done by Mitch Daniels’s executive order in Indiana and by Scott Walker’s legislation in Wisconsin, the flow of money to teacher unions has been vastly reduced.

Do voters support a right-to-work law, banning union contracts that require all employees in a bargaining unit to pay union dues? Yes, by a surprisingly large 58%-37% margin. Some Republicans in the legislature want to pass such a bill but Snyder has said it is “not on my agenda.” Unions fear he would sign it if the legislature passes it. Union leaders have been threatening a referendum on a state constitutional amendment banning a right-to-work law, but these numbers suggest it would have a hard time passing.