I live in Michigan and I see that Michigan is no longer a right-to-work state. What does this mean and what can I do if I don’t want to join the union at work?
Seventh-day Adventist employees are called to follow the dictates of their conscience when it comes to the issue of whether to join a labor union. We recognize that labor unions have served an important function of ensuring that workers are provided with proper wages, proper hours, and proper working conditions. These are in line with biblical principles regarding the just and fair treatment of workers.
However, there have been cases of labor unions using coercive methods to reach their goals and Ellen White has cautioned against joining labor unions for a number of reasons, including that it can infringe on freedom of conscience. The General Conference Employer Employee Guidelines also counsels that “Christians should refrain from violence, coercion, or any method incompatible with Christian ideals as instruments in the attainment of social or economic goals. Nor should Christians lend their support to organizations or employers that resort to such actions.” For these reasons our church has historically discouraged members from joining labor unions.
Up until March of 2023 Michigan was one of 27 right-to-work states. A right-to-work state is one where an employee has the right to work without being required to join a union or pay union dues (although there are some exceptions for certain federal jobs). In the Lake Union, Indiana and Wisconsin are both right-to-work states.
Even in non-right-to-work states, like Michigan and Illinois, labor union membership is not mandatory. Instead, the issue is about whether an employee is required to financially support the union through the payment of agency fees. Usually, employees are required to pay dues as a condition of employment, whether or not they decide to join the union.
Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 offers protection, though, for individuals who have a religious objection to financially supporting labor unions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that when an employee has a religious conviction that does not allow them to join a union or pay union dues “the labor organization should accommodate the employee by not requiring the employee to join the organization and by permitting him or her to donate a sum equivalent to dues to a charitable organization.” 29 CFR §1605.2(e)(2). Employers are obligated to accommodate workers with religious objections to labor union membership, and payment of union dues.
PARL can assist those who seek to opt out of membership in labor unions. More information on the Seventh-day Adventist position on labor unions is available at:
Jennifer Gray-Woods is the Lake Union legal counsel, as well as its Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director.
