One does not have to be a supporter of labor unions or of everything they do to question the “right to work” rhetoric animating new laws in Michigan and elsewhere that seek to defund unions.
A “right to work” is not at stake. Since 1947, it has been unlawful for private employers and unions to require workers to join a union to obtain a job; and the same applies in government offices as well. It is also unlawful to require workers to become full-fledged members of a union to keep a job. All that can be required is what the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1963 decision called “financial core membership,” which is solely the obligation to pay the reasonable costs of union representation. It is also well-established constitutional law that no part of these “financial core” dues may be used to fund the partisan political activity of unions.
