In 2012, Michigan citizens were getting set to vote on a constitutional amendment that would have enshrined the forced unionization of home caregivers into the state constitution. This ballot proposal was bankrolled by SEIU Healthcare Michigan, which had been skimming $6 million per year from caregivers and was set to do so again.

Marge Faville, then-president of SEIU Michigan, appealed directly to the self-interest of politicians while speaking at the Democratic National Convention, assuring Democrats the dues skim initiative was important “because unions are effective. We make sure Democrats (get into office) ...”

Voters rejected the ballot proposal by a 56%-44% vote, and dues skim went away for more than a decade. The Michigan House passed bills Wednesday that restore this unpopular practice, and Gov. Whitmer is expected to sign that legislation, ending a period during which home healthcare workers were not pushed into SEIU Michigan.

What happened after workers were given a choice and it was the union that had to go out and persuade people to join?

Membership collapsed. SEIU Healthcare Michigan went from 55,000 members to 5,000 — a drop of more than 90%.

Did losing union representation make the lives of the caregivers worse? That is doubtful. If it did, they would have voluntarily paid money and joined the union. But they largely didn’t because this isn’t a typical union — it has no power to bargain over a contract on their behalf. Most of the caregivers are people caring for disabled loved ones in their own homes, and they receive government support to do so. There is no bargaining over contracts because the support comes in the form of federal grants administered by the Michigan Legislature.

As the membership of the SEIU Healthcare Michigan union collapsed, pay skyrocketed. Spending on the Home Help program increased by hundreds of million of dollars, or 85%.

So why is it that lawmakers voted to bring back this program? It goes back to the union president’s quote. In 2012, SEIU Healthcare Michigan spent $3.4 million on politics and lobbying. Just as the union president indicated, almost all of that spending had the aim of making sure Democrats would get into office. Today, the union’s political spending is down to $12,000.

Unionizing 37,000 home caregivers is expected to bring in nearly $14 million annually for the union. The money won’t be spent on bargaining or better working conditions — because the “employer” is typically the disabled family member living in the same home with the “employees.”

That frees up money to be spent on politics. And that’s the public employee union problem: Union spends money to elect politicians; politicians pass laws to give money and power to unions; unions spend more money to elect politicians...on and on it goes. And it’s the taxpayer who pays for it.

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