Lawmakers voting on Michigan Right-to-Work repeal

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Michigan lawmakers will decide Wednesday if the state's Right-to-Work law should be repealed.

Right-to-Work prohibits unions and other labor groups from requiring private or public employees to pay dues as a condition of obtaining employment. Under the law, employees who opt out of unions are still given the same benefits as members of a union. It went into effect under former Gov. Rick Snyder 10 years ago.

Labor unions such as the UAW have long viewed Right to-Work as a hostile union-busting measure.

House Speaker Tate told FOX 2 earlier this year that a Right-to-Work repeal is part of a better way to support workers while growing the economy.

"We have to have talent in Michigan," he said. "That’s been one of just the biggest factors for us in terms of how do we grow our state, how do we ensure that our communities are stable.

However, some argue that the law shouldn't be repealed. 

"I think it would be a really big mistake if the economy is important to the future of our state - which obviously it is," former Lt. Gov. Brian Calley previously said. "The repeal of Right-to-Work would send a message across the country that Michigan is going backward to the types of policies that put us at the bottom of pretty much every economic index you can think of."

Calley was a big driving force behind implementing Right-to-Work.

If repealed, the state's prevailing wage law will be reinstated.