The Economic Benefits of a Michigan Right to Work Law

It’s hard to put a positive spin on Michigan’s economic track record in recent
years, or on the state’s prospects for the future assuming no significant change in current
policies.

Between 1994 and 2004, Michigan ranked dead last among the 50 states in nonfarm
employment growth. The average state enjoyed a percentage job gain more than
two-and-a-half times as great as Michigan’s.1

Just in the past three years, the Wolverine State has lost 40,000 young people in
the job market due to out-migration to other states, according to David Littmann, senior
economist for the Midland, Mich.-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The enactment of a state Right to Work law to prohibit the firing of workers for refusal to join or pay dues or fees to an unwanted labor union could reverse Michigan’s sinking economic fortunes.