Jamie Thompson has a history of voting against pro-union labor laws
The Republican incumbent has promoted her support of ‘right-to-work’ laws in her 2024 reelection campaign.
In her first term in the Michigan House of Representatives, Republican state Rep. Jamie Thompson has opposed labor policies meant to benefit Michigan workers.
Thompson, who is seeking reelection in the race for Michigan’s 28th House District in the Downriver area, boasted about her vote last year against repealing the state’s “right-to-work” law on her campaign’s Facebook page. “Right-to-work” laws allow workers to opt out of joining a union and paying union fees while still receiving benefits negotiated by the union. They also prevent unions from requiring employees to pay union fees as a term of their employment at union-represented jobs.
“I am proud of the issues I stood strong on,” her post reads.
Michigan Republicans sparked controversy when, in December 2012, they passed “right-to-work” legislation without a single hearing during a lame-duck session. The move drew thousands of protesting workers to the state Capitol in the months that followed. Some union leaders said they believed the law would hamper their ability to bargain with employers.
When Democrats gained control of state government last year, repealing the “right-to-work” law was one of their top priorities. In January 2023, legislative Democrats introduced bills to repeal the law for public and private sector employees. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed those bills into law in March of that year.
Thompson lambasted Democrats for repealing the law and cited an article claiming losses in membership in the United Auto Workers union that was published by the Michigan Capitol Confidential, a news service of the Mackinac Center For Public Policy, a conservative free-market think tank.
An analysis of anti-union laws in states across the country by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute shows that they have resulted in lower unionization rates, reduced benefits, and lower pay for workers. Full-time workers in states with anti-union labor laws are paid on average $1,670 less per year, or 3.2% less, than workers in states without such laws.
Thompson has garnered support in her 2024 race from organizations that favored keeping the Michigan law in place, including the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Association of Michigan and the Koch family-backed Americans for Prosperity. Thompson has appeared at Americans for Prosperity-Michigan events, including several which attacked President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. A key strategy of the president’s plans to grow the economy has been to make it easier for workers to join unions and increase unionization rates by supporting collective bargaining.
As the repeal of the Michigan law went into effect this February, Thompson posted on social media that she’s not anti-union but that she supports a worker’s ability to decide whether to join a union.“There is no Economic Growth without the ‘Right To Work’. Where is the freedom to choose?” her post reads.
