More Michigan employees are seeking – and finding – freedom from labor unions.

According to the latest numbers released by the federal Department of Labor, the rate of unionized employees fell 11% over the last year – from 16.3% to 14.8%.

In real numbers, union memberships fell 48,000 to 585,000, the Record-Eagle reports.
The state’s right-to-work law, which took effect in March 2013, is credited with the decline.

The law’s full effect has not yet been realized.

Union contracts with the automakers expire later this year. Once those expire, workers can enjoy the right-to-work protections that many already have.

The paper notes Michigan’s unions have lost one-third of their membership in the last decade.