Democrats want to force workers to pay union dues against their will once again as they make repealing Michigan’s right-to-work law one of their first legislative targets when they take full control of Lansing in January.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she will work to pull back the legislation, and Democratic House Speaker-elect Joe Tate from Detroit recently said the law has “negatively impacted the state.”

That’s simply not true and any attempt to roll back what has been a beneficial economic policy here will be partisan politics at its worst. None of the other 27 states in the country with a right-to-work law have repealed it, and for good reason.

Right-to-work, which allows workers to opt out of joining a union in workplaces that are organized by a labor organization, was passed under former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in 2012. It prompted an immediate drop in union participation that reflected workers’ sentiments toward compulsory membership.

Manufacturing jobs here have grown since the legislation took effect. There were 609,000 manufacturing jobs in Michigan in September, compared to 538,800 in January 2013 when the law took effect.

Inflicting more instability into Michigan’s economy, which is still recovering from the pandemic, by repealing pragmatic legislation that has become part of the state’s business climate attractiveness would have a negative effect on investment and job growth.

Where repealing it would hurt Michigan the most is in attracting foreign automakers and suppliers, who tend to avoid states where union organizing is a serious risk. That’s why traditionally the foreign auto companies have preferred right-to-work southern states.

According to the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor and Statistics data analyzed by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy:

— Michigan’s unemployment rate has been an average of 2.5% lower since right-to-work’s passage. From Jan. 2013 to Oct. 2022 the unemployment rate averaged 6%, including the huge spike in unemployment following one of the nation’s strictest pandemic lockdowns. From Jan. 2002 to Dec. 2012, the state’s unemployment rate averaged 8.5%.

— Michigan added 382,100 jobs in the time between the law’s passage and the onset of COVID-19, a 9.4% increase.

— Michigan’s overall labor force was up nearly 2% — 90,648 people — in the nine years following right-to-work. In the nine years prior to the law, the labor force declined 7%.

— Personal incomes in Michigan adjusted for inflation rose just 0.6% in the nine years before right to work, compared to 21.9% in the nine years following.

— Median household incomes adjusted for inflation rose by 14.2% from 2012 to 2019, as compared with a 13.4% drop from 2005 to 2012. Specifically, manufacturing wages grew 12% in Michigan from 2012 to 2021.

— Michigan’s population rose by 130,060 people in the nine years following right-to-work, compared to a loss of 120,401 people over the nine years preceding it.

Right-to-work was essential in helping Michigan recover from its Lost Decade at the start of this century. The Legislature should be looking for ways to build on Michigan’s rebounding economy, not put it at risk. Repealing it here will hamper the state’s long-term ability to compete, especially in the rapidly transitioning auto industry.

— Detroit News