Michigan Senate votes to repeal ‘right-to-work,’ restore prevailing wage

Michigan Senate votes to repeal ‘right-to-work,’ restore prevailing wage
Workers who oppose Michigan's "right-to-work" law applaud from the gallery after the state Senate voted 20-17 to repeal it on Tuesday in Lansing. Credit David Eggert/Crain's Detroit Business

Democrats on Tuesday approved bills to rescind Michigan’s 2012 “right-to-work” law, voting to again allow labor contracts that require workers to pay union fees as a condition of employment.

The Senate passed the legislation 20-17 on party lines, as union members cheered and clapped from the gallery. It also voted 20-17 to restore a law mandating “prevailing,” usually union-scale wages and benefits, on construction projects funded partly or wholly with state money.

The move followed House approval of bills last week. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will sign the measures after the House takes final votes on some of the Senate-passed measures next week. The bills would take effect in March 2024 because Senate Republicans in opposition refused to let them go into effect immediately.

Read the full story from Crain’s Detroit Business.