LANSING- Governor Rick Snyder said if employers and workers are agreeing to contract extensions prior to the right-to-work law taking effect March 28 without “significant economic benefit,” it would concern him.
Speaking with reporters after an event Wednesday, Snyder was asked about Republican legislators threatening to punish school districts and public universities in the appropriations process for agreeing to contract extensions keeping in place mandatory union membership or non-member fees to the union for workers under a collective bargaining agreement.
The right-to-work law takes effect March 28, but it does not affect any contracts in place prior to the 12:01 a.m. effective time, so several unions and school districts as well as universities have struck contract extensions.
“It’s something that could be a real concern,” Snyder said. “The real question is if someone’s just signing a 10-year agreement with no significant economic benefit, you have to wonder really why and is that in the best interest of the people that are involved in that process.”
But Snyder would not say what kind of economic benefit would be acceptable and seemed to only say he understood legislators raising questions.
“If it’s not, I think it’s fair for legislators to bring up concerns and questions about that,” he said of any contracts without significant economic benefit. “If there’s not substance, that begs a real serious question.”
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