By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

LANSING, Mich. – Teachers unions maintain their base of power as long as they maintain their stream of revenue.

In Michigan, the money is about to start drying up for the unions.

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A federal judge has dissolved a lower court’s preliminary injunction which blocked the state of Michigan from enforcing a new law prohibiting schools from collecting dues on behalf of teachers unions, according to MLive.com.

That means automatic dues deductions will stop coming out of all teacher’s paychecks within a few years. If teachers want to pay their dues they will have to do so voluntarily. In other states, like Wisconsin, that sort of change has led to a dramatic decrease in union revenue and corresponding loss of political clout.

For years teachers paid dues because they had no choice. Now that they have a choice, many will probably decide to keep their money, even if that means the loss of their union membership.

In the past the nonpayment of dues could cause a teacher to be fired. But Michigan is now a right-to-work state, meaning compulsory union membership is no longer required to gain or maintain employment.

Under the law, schools may continue to collect union dues until the expiration of their current teachers union collective bargaining agreements, according to the news report.