The United Auto Workers negotiates contracts with the Big 3 auto manufacturers in Michigan as well as many smaller employers. The union has about 134,000 total members in the state.

The UAW in Michigan has lost about 10,000 members in the past decade, despite job increases in manufacturing. Why? Michigan lawmakers passed a right-to-work law in 2012 that freed workers from being forced to contribute to labor unions.

That may soon change. Democrats control the state Legislature, and labor unions are their largest political funders. Forcing the more than 140,000 Michigan workers who have left their unions to contribute dues or fees would bring tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue to organized labor.

When it comes to the United Auto Workers, its former members had some good reasons to leave. The past decade has seen rampant corruption in the UAW.

A recent article from Michael Wayland, auto reporter for CNBC, sums it up:

Without Michigan’s right-to-work law, UAW workers would have been forced to contribute money to a union engaged in massive and systemic corruption. Repealing Michigan’s right-to-work law will hurt workers who don’t want to contribute to lawless unions that go against their values.

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