LANSING, MI – Yesterday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annual report shows that union membership in Michigan grew by nearly 50,000 in 2022 despite decades of anti-union policy and direct attacks on our union freedoms. The report also shows an increase in union membership across the country by 273,000 last year, spurred in large part by workers of color.
“For nearly 40 years, politicians in Lansing have unjustly inserted themselves into our collective bargaining agreements, tipping the scales in favor of corporations and millionaires. But yesterday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics annual report proves the resilience and power of Michigan’s labor movement,” said Ron BIEBER, President of the Michigan AFL-CIO. “The growth in union membership demonstrates the urgent need for our pro-worker legislative majority to act upon the will of the people that elected them and restore their union freedoms and collective bargaining rights.”
The findings in the BLS report come as no surprise, given national support for unions at 71% (Gallup) and a new wave of worker organizing across every sector, from coffee baristas to healthcare workers, cannabis workers, construction workers, and many more. With the resurgence of union organizing and Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s significant investment in job creation, Michigan’s labor movement is gaining momentum.
“These statistics highlight the urgent need to repeal Michigan’s anti-union “right-to-work” law,” said State Senator Darrin CAMILLERI, District 4, the sponsor of legislation to repeal Michigan’s “Right-to-Work” law. “Our new legislative leadership has the opportunity to take long-overdue action to remove existing restrictions and ensure workers are able to more freely negotiate the pay, benefits, and protections they deserve.”
The Michigan AFL-CIO calls on the Michigan legislature to urgently enact the repeal of anti-union “right-to-work” and allow any Michigander who wants to join a union on the job to do so.
The Michigan AFL-CIO, Michigan’s largest labor organization, is a federation representing forty different labor organizations, eighteen different central labor councils, and eight constituency groups representing over 1 million union members and their families.
###
