Michigan teachers unions flout right-to-work law

Schoolhouse, Three Rivers, MI

Liberals say that we should respect ObamaCare because it's the law of the land. In Michigan they have a different opinion of the state's right-to-work law.

From National Review Online:

William "Ray" Arthur, a Michigan teacher, wrestling coach, and inductee into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, expected his last year before retirement to be uneventful. Taking advantage of the state’s new right-to-work law, he tried to quit the teacher’s union he’s been required to belong to for 35 years. Now the union is threatening to unleash creditors on him, and he’s fighting a legal battle to pry himself free.

"Pretty much, this is the only negative experience I've ever had associated with education," Arthur tells National Review Online. "These people have not been transparent and honest with me, and I feel like I’ve been tricked into staying in the union. They're willing to go to court to make me stay in the union and get my union dues."

Michigan passed right-to-work legislation a year ago this week, but like Arthur, many workers remain bound to their union membership against their will. Unions have searched for legal loopholes that allow them to hang on to their workers — which is hardly surprising, given estimates that they will lose $46.5 million a year now that Michigan has become the 24th right-to-work state in the nation.

Some of Michigan's unions have given workers only very narrow windows to opt out, and others negotiated contracts before the right-to-work law took effect on March 28, locking their members into years of additional dues.

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