Michigan Poorer Than Average Of Right-to-Work States
Trends show RTW states growing faster in population, jobs and income
Michigan State University Professor Charles Ballard told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club recently that per-capita earnings in right-to-work states are about $5,000 less than in non-right-to-work states.
What he didn't say was that Michigan's per-capita earnings as a non-right-to-work state were below right-to-work states in 2011.
The per-capita income in non-right-to-work states was $43,666 in 2011. The per-capita income in the 25 right-to-work states was $38,308. Michigan’s was $36,264.
In an email, Ballard said that right-to-work didn’t necessarily cause a state to have low income.
“My point is that, since per-capita incomes in RTW states are substantially less than per-capita incomes in non-RTW states, it is very difficult to make a serious case that RTW is the path to a more prosperous economy,” Ballard said. “It doesn’t necessarily say that RTW is the path to poverty, but it does point us toward other explanations.”
Mackinac Center for Public Policy Fiscal Analyst James Hohman said that it would be an improvement for the state if Michigan's per capita income reached the average of right-to-work states.
"Michigan went through a decade-long recession and is just now experiencing a sustained recovery," Hohman said. "Just how fast and how much the state recovers depends on the rules the state enacts. Michigan policymakers have made a lot of improvements to those rules, with right-to-work as the capstone."
Those saying that right-to-work per-capita income is higher than non-right-to-work states often don't take into consideration the trends when compared to forced unionization states. Those poorer states were earning less even before right-to-work became an option. In recent decades, right-to-work states have grown faster in population, jobs and income when compared to forced unionization states.
The first states to give workers the freedom to choose whether they want to pay to be in a union as a condition of employment did so in 1947.
States that adopted right-to-work laws didn't become poor because of the law. Most were struggling already. For example, Texas' per capita income was on average $540 from 1929 to 1946, which at that time put it 36 percent below the average per capita income of the states that became non-right-to-work states. In 2011, Texas’ per capita income was $40,147 and was just 8 percent below the per capita income of non-right-to-work states.
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See also:
Facts On Right to Work vs. Forced Unionization States
The Union 'Free-Rider Problem' Myth In Right-to-Work Debate
The Public Employee Union Problem
10 Stories Showing Why Mandatory Government Collective Bargaining Is Counterproductive
Right-to-Work Law Would Help Ensure Government Unions Could Not Elect Their Own Bosses
Union Right-to-Work Protest Turns Violent
Union Leaders: 'There Is Going To Be Retribution'
Tight security locked out dozens of anti-right-to-work protesters from the State Capitol as Governor Snyder was delivering his "State of the State" address. Protesters tried to disrupt the speech by banging and chanting outside the building.
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FROM MICHIGAN HOME HELP PROGRAM PROVIDERS — OFTEN FAMILY MEMBERS
ATTORNEY GENERAL ORDERED THE STATE TO STOP TAKING MONEY ON MAY 25, 2012
opinion May 25, 2012
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) "organized” Michigan's self-employed Home Help Program providers for the purpose of skimming dues from their ailing and disabled clients' Medicaid subsidy checks. The majority of these providers are relatives or friends taking care of loved ones. It’s been estimated that less than 25 percent of the providers are hired in an employment setting.
The first counter tallies SEIU dues skimmed since the union and state officials first launched this scheme in late 2006. The second shows the amount skimmed since June 9, 2011, when the Michigan House passed and sent to the Senate a bill to ban this and all similar “stealth unionization” efforts. The third counter shows the dues skimmed since the Governor signed the bill into law on April 10, 2012. The fourth counter shows the amount skimmed since May 25, 2012, when the Attorney General opinion was announced.
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