Public sector unions in Michigan: their presence and impact according to local government leaders

August 2011

This report presents information about the presence of local government employee unions in Michigan, as well as the views of Michigan's local government leaders regarding the impact of those unions. The findings are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders in the Spring 2011 wave of the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS). While the majority of Michigan's citizens reside in jurisdictions that have public sector unions, overall only 27% of Michigan's local governments have these unions. The presence of public sector unions is strongly associated with the size of the local government: only 5% of the state's smallest jurisdictions have unions, compared to 98% of the largest jurisdictions.