DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) suffered a 11% drop in membership in 2024 as compared to the previous year.
The state union that represents Detroit Public Schools Community District had membership drop from 18,692 members in 2023 to 16,628 members in 2024. That’s according to union data provided to the federal government as of June 2024.
The district had 23,388 members in 2012, the year before right-to-work became effective in Michigan. The 2024 membership was 29% below the 2012 level.
The right-to-work law made it so public-sector and private-sector employees didn’t have to pay dues as a condition of employment. In 2024, the Democratic-controlled state Legislature and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer repealed the right-to-work law. However, public-sector workers were not impacted by that because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus ruling in 2018.
AFT Michigan represents educators and health care workers in Michigan’s K-12 and intermediate school districts, community colleges, universities, and hospitals. Terrence Martin is the current president of AFT-Michigan. He was previously the president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers.
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