Big Labor's Bark Is Bigger Than Its Bite, Says Mackinac Center

Voters tend to reward lawmakers and parties who enact labor reforms, despite threats to the contrary from unions and the politicians they back, according to a new video and website released by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Labor Reform in the States: A Video Timeline examines the reforms and the electoral aftermath in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan from 2011 to 2014 and documents how the party that supported reforms maintained, and in some cases increased, its legislative majority and kept the governor’s mansion. In the case of Michigan — the birthplace of the UAW and the state with the fifth-highest percentage of union workers — no legislator who voted for right-to-work lost in the general election.

The message in both the video and the website, seemingly aimed at weak-kneed Republican lawmakers who may be afraid to “take on” the once-mighty unions, shows how the governors and lawmakers who stood up to unions suffered no harm in the ballot booth.
“Unions and the politicians they put into office try to stop pro-worker and pro-taxpayer labor reforms by threatening and intimidating legislators politically, but the past five years show that voters reward elected officials who courageously work for the people rather than special interests,” said Mackinac Center Director of Labor Policy F. Vincent Vernuccio. “Lawmakers who might otherwise fear making necessary reforms can rest assured that big labor’s bark appears to be much worse than its bite.”