Mike Thompson explains why MI's cops and firefighters are immunized against Right-to-Work laws
Mike Thompson
Detroit Free Press
You have to wonder what Gov. Rick Snyder and his fellow Republicans in Lansing have against police officers and firefighters. After all, the main selling point of the so-called right-to-work legislation that seems destined to become the law of the land in our state is that all employees in a union workplace should be given the right to choose whether or not join said union and pay dues. The rallying cry of the right-to-work movement here in Michigan is: “All workers deserve a choice.” All workers that is, except police officers and firefighters, who are inexplicably exempt under the legislation and who are thus being denied the ability to enjoy the bounty of this new freedom of choice.
Supporters of the right-to-work bill have gone so far as to describe the legislation as “pro-freedom.” So why are Michigan Republicans intent on denying the fruits of choice and freedom to our bravest public servants? Should police officers defending our liberty be denied the very same freedoms they’re charged with protecting? Should firefighters, who routinely risk their lives to protect the public, be treated as second-class citizens?
The truth is that right-to-work isn’t about a burning desire to spread “choice.” Neither Snyder nor any other Republican in the state has been lying awake in bed at night fretting about a lack of choice for workers. If spreading freedom was the true motivating factor, there would be no logical reason to exempt police officers and firefighters.
Those public servants are exempt for the same reason the legislation was introduced in the first place: politics. If you’re going to pass legislation that will enrage thousands of people, you want the folks charged with keeping the peace and protecting property on your side.
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