LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s right-to-work law becomes official today, but most unionized workers will have to wait until their current labor contract expires before they can opt out of their union.

The new law is known as “right to work” because it allows individuals to accept a job without being legally obligated to also join a labor union.

It’s a freedom that many Michigan workers will have to wait years before they can enjoy.

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As the Detroit News reports, “Any labor contract in place before today is exempt from the right-to-work law until it expires, which is why labor unions representing employees of universities, school districts, municipalities, the Detroit library system and even Kroger grocery stores rushed to sign new pacts in recent weeks.”

One of the most egregious examples of a union circumventing the new law comes from the Taylor School District, where the school board agreed to a 10-year contract with the Taylor Federation of Teachers.

Such agreements leave disgruntled union members with little power.

Some individual workers can choose to discontinue having dues automatically deducted from their paychecks, but they will still be expected to mail in their dues payments to union headquarters for as long as their labor contract remains valid.

Individuals can also choose to quit their union membership – typically a once-a-year event restricted to a two-week period – but they will still have to pay “agency fees” to the union.

Labor leaders have made it clear they will track down any unionized workers who try to skip out on giving money to the union.

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Last December, the head of the Michigan Education Association sent a letter to members warning them the teachers union “will use any legal means at our disposal to collect dues owed under signed membership forms.”

It’s clear that all the last-minute contract extensions and rules regarding agency fees and dues deductions will protect many Michigan labor unions from any immediate effects of “right to work.”

Brian Pannebecker, a United Auto Workers member and spokesman for the Michigan Freedom to Work group, told the Detroit News that unions won’t help members navigate the process for resigning.

“They’re not going to put up fliers around the plant and tell you how to do it,” Pannebecker said. “They’re going to make you figure it out yourself.”

Legislative leaders behind the new right-to-work law “acknowledge there will be hurdles for workers who want to resign from their union or stop paying agency fees,” reports the News.

But as state Sen. Pat Colbeck put it, “We’ve provided a pathway to freedom for rank and file members who want to opt out.”