State-worker unions respond to unfriendly environment
LANSING – To Cheryl Streberger, unions' weaknesses are perhaps best exemplified by the 2002 effort to guarantee collective bargaining rights for state workers.
Voters nixed that proposed constitutional amendment 54% to 46%. Streberger — a retired state prison nurse and former benefits representative for Michigan's largest state-worker union, the United Auto Workers Local 6000 — said unions share some of the blame.
"I thought we did a really bad job of educating our members," the 62-year-old Lowell resident said. "The union didn't do a good enough job to sell it."
Fifteen years later, Michigan state-worker unions are under even more pressure to sell themselves as they face an increasingly unfriendly environment. In 2013, Michigan became a right-to-work state — allowing workers covered by union contracts to opt out of the union without paying fees — which means unions can no longer take for granted they'll have the financial support of all the workers they represent in contract negotiations.
Read more: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/capitol/2017/03/06/state-worker-unions-respond-unfriendly-environment/98037946/
