By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan’s labor unions are feeling a bit panicky these days.

Beginning March 27, Michigan workers will be free to leave their unions once their labor contracts expire, thanks to a new right-to-work law signed last year by Gov. Rick Snyder.

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Big Labor leaders understand that once union membership becomes a choice instead of a condition of employment, many workers will happily walk away, taking their dues dollars with them.

That’s what happens when you keep people in chains for too long, even if you keep telling them their bondage is for their own good.

That reality has labor leaders and their political surrogates on some Michigan school boards and local commissions considering a new option:  Agreeing to extra-long labor contracts before the March 27 deadline that would lock employees into paying union dues for years to come.

AnnArbor.com reports that the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners will soon consider a resolution “that both condemns right-to-work and instructs county administration to start talks with the unions ahead of schedule. “

The idea is the brainchild of Commissioner Andy LeBarre, who wants to preserve Ann Arbor’s pro-labor reputation – and the $12 million unions annually spend on training events within the community.

“Even though the state has made this choice (about right-to-work), we as a local community don’t support that policy,” LeBarre told the news site.

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LeBarre presumes to speak for the entire community, but it’s a safe bet there are at least a few residents who want the freedom to choose whether or not to belong to a union – even in a far left, pro-union city like Ann Arbor.

In nearby Oakland County, the Berkley School District is considering a nine-year contract with the Berkley Education Association, its teachers union.

The potential “collective bargaining agreement … would run through June 30, 2022” and it “would prevent (teachers) from having the right to opt out of the union,” reports Michigan Capitol Confidential.

The news site notes that a union representing college professors – the Western Michigan University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors – “is considering a similar contract provision.”

The unions are obviously desperate to cement long-term labor deals, but it comes with quite a risk for both individual employees and their employers.

Any American who can remember back to 2008 understands that the economy can change dramatically in a short amount of time.

Since labor contracts legally dictate exactly how much of a pay raise each employee will receive every year, it’s a safe bet that either employees or their employers will be unhappy with the size of those raises by the contract’s end – depending on which way the economy goes over the next decade.

But the union mentality is so strong in certain Michigan communities that union and government leaders are willing to take that risk. They’re betting that in a few years, Michigan will have a new batch of political leaders who will repeal the Great Lakes State’s right-to-work law.

Leon Drolet, chair of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, isn’t surprised by such behavior.

“Many school boards have been subservient to the unions for so long, we can expect them to pull out all stops to prevent change,” Drolet told Michigan Capitol Confidential. “This is further evidence that school boards don’t negotiate with teacher unions, they collude with them.”