Poll: Michigan split on right-to-work new law

Protesters gather for the UAW silent protest Thursday on the Capitol steps in Lansing, Mich., to protest the new right-to-work law. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said a right-to-work law that took effect Thursday is a milestone that will bring jobs to Michigan, while protesters promised to exact revenge at the polls for the contentious measure Snyder signed in December.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan residents are about evenly divided over whether their new right-to-work law will help or hurt the economy, according to a Michigan State University poll.

Forty-three percent of those polled said the law will help Michigan's economy, while 41 percent said it will hurt, the university said. The difference is within the poll's 3 percentage point margin of sampling error.

Measures the Republican-led Legislature and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder approved last year bars unions from collecting mandatory payments from workers they represent under collective bargaining agreements. They took effect Thursday.

Michigan is now among 24 states with right-to-work laws.

Twenty-three percent of those questioned say the new law will "hurt a lot," while 17 percent say it will "help a lot," according to poll director Charles Ballard. Sixteen percent said they don't expect the law to have an effect on the economy, according to Ballard.

The university says 1,013 adults were polled by phone Jan. 14 through March 4.