Representative Alicia St. Germaine recently voted to make Michigan more competitive and protect worker paychecks by upholding right to work and prevailing wage laws adopted nearly a decade ago.

“I’m proud to stand by workers and their rights to choose whether to join or not to join a union and keep more of their hard-earned paychecks,” said Rep. St Germaine. “I believe every worker should not be forced or coerced into a Union – they should be able to choose for themselves. Passing this legislative package means we won’t be able to bring the high paying jobs of the future to Michigan. I came to Lansing to help deliver solutions that would make our state more competitive, and to make sure my constituents can keep more of what they earn. This legislative package did the exact opposite and that’s why I voted against it.”

In an attempt maintain crucial worker protections, Representative St. Germaine supported an amendment that would have exempted an employee from being represented by the union if they chose not to pay union dues. The amendment was defeated by the majority party.

The right-to-work repeal legislation is contained within House Bills 4004-05 and the prevailing wage requirement is contained within HB 4007 all advanced along a party line vote. The repeal and the prevailing wage legislation now heads to the Senate for consideration.