Town hall meeting in Jackson highlights positive aspects of Right to Work as part of a state-wide tour

From left to right, Terry Bowman of president Union Conservatives, Vincent Vernuccio of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Lewis Butler, professor of economics at Hillsdale College talk before the town hall meeting held in Jackson. Photo by Sarah Stonestreet| MLive  

JACKSON, MI – Americans for Prosperity hosted a town hall discussion on right to work in Jackson on Monday evening to answer residents’ questions on the issue.

The visit was part of a right to work town hall tour to speak on the positive aspects of the issue and was the first stop of the event, which is scheduled to visit 11 cities by March 28. Other stops include Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Traverse City and Brighton. 

Residents gathered at the Commonwealth Community Center to listen to speakers, including a professor of economics from Hillsdale College, and discuss the right to work legislation that will become law at the end of this month. 

Republican state representatives Earl Poleski and Mike Shirkey also attended the event.

State Director Scott Hagerstrom opened the event, stating the group wanted to hear the input from residents of cities like Jackson and what issues they have. F. Vincent Vernuccio of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Terry Bowman  president of Union Conservatives and Lewis Butler a professor of economics at Hillsdale College all spoke on the subject of right to work and moving forward.

“Freedom of association is something that union members don’t have in a unionized state,” Bowman said, calling it their first amendment right. Right to assemble means they can assemble without engaging in any violence, he said, but it also has another meaning — it means that “I am there of my own free will.”

“Union officials won’t be able to take their workers and money for granted anymore,” he said. “Officials will understand consequences of using dues money on political agendas.”

 Union officials are more accountable, it will make unions work harder and make them more efficient, he added.

"Right to work is very union friendly," he said. "It always has been." If members still want to belong to their union, Hagerstrom said, they can still belong to their union.

Vernuccio said that unions will still be able to bargain over wages, hours and working conditions. There was only really one change in his opinion.

“Everything they could bargain for before, unions can bargain for,” he said. “Except for firing a worker that refuses to pay them.”

He also claimed that the right to work bill actually helps unions.

“It actually makes unions stronger…because now they have to serve their members better,” he said. “Unions stand to lose dues money if they don’t treat them right.” 

Vernuccio also believes that union leaders will seek signatures to have Right to Work become a ballot measure in 2014. 

“The conversation on right to work, politically, has not ended,” he said. However, Hagerstrom also said that he believed the smaller turnout on Monday night proves that this issues wasn’t the burning issue it was made out to be. Brower said that “even inside the union ranks this is a good thing.”

Butler, who have a powerpoint presentation on the economics of right to work, said that right to work is “giving people freedom to do what they want with their own money.” He also said it would help the state turn around in terms of unemployment and population numbers. He stated that according to reports from Forbes and CNBC, nine of the 10 top states for business growth were right to work states.

“It’s not that we’re anti-union, it’s that we’re anti-legal plunder,” Butler said. “I don’t have anything against unions I have something against unions who take money from their members.”

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