State lawmakers say Michigan set the stage for states like Wisconsin to consider right-to-work laws.
Thousands of protesters gathered at the Wisconsin state Capitol on Tuesday as lawmakers there held a hearing on the measure. It would ban requirements that workers pay union dues as a condition of employment.
Michigan state Representative Brad Jacobsen, R-Oxford, says he and his Republican colleagues showed other Midwest states it could be done.
“I think us being able to do it in Michigan, one of the strongest union states, traditionally, in the country, emboldened some other states to look at it a little differently,” said Jacobsen.
Michigan has seen a significant decline in union membership since it became the 24th right-to-work state in 2012.
