State workers paying union dues drops to 84%
LANSING For the fourth straight year, fewer Michigan state government workers are paying dues to the union that negotiates salaries and benefits their behalf.
As of September, 28,708 state workers were paying dues to the union that represents them at the bargaining table, according to recently released figures from the Michigan Civil Service Commission. That works out to about 84% of the more than 34,000 state workers who are covered by collective bargaining agreements.
Both of those figures are the lowest they've been in years and have declined yearly since 2013, when Michigan became a right-to-work state, allowing employees to opt out of their unions without paying fees. About 93% of state workers covered by union contracts paid union dues in 2013, according to the Civil Service Commission's annual Workforce Report.
Among Michigan's six state employee unions, the lowest rate of union membership is at the Michigan State Employees Association, where about 68% of workers MSEA represents at the bargaining table are paying union dues. The highest is at the Michigan Corrections Organization and the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Council 25, which each have about 93% membership.
Read more: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/capitol/2017/11/15/state-workers-paying-union-dues-ewer-michigan-state-government-employees-paying-union-dues-data-show/863148001/