Most Americans have heard of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) through its ill-conceived scheme to prevent Boeing from building a new plant in South Carolina because the Palmetto State has a right-to-work law. The board’s actions have created a huge backlash against the Obama ...

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What do unions do with your dues? Do they support more Democrats or Republicans? source: Center For Responsive Politics, Washington DC Leading Union Political Campaign Contributors 1990-2010 ...

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From Bloomberg Business Week An Indiana panel is set to tell lawmakers to revive "right-to-work" legislation when they reconvene in January in a move that could set the stage for another showdown with House Democrats, who staged a five-week walkout over a similar proposal this year. Read story here...

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from boston.com “Mitt Romney’s finger-in-the-wind politics continued today when he refused to support right-to-work reforms signed by Ohio Governor John Kasich – reforms Romney supported in June,” Perry’s communications director, Ray Sullivan, said in a statement. &ldq...

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From the Washington Times DETROIT — In this historic stronghold of the American labor movement, the phrase “right to work” is seen by many as fighting words. But with a new GOP-controlled state Legislature and a Republican governor in place in Lansing, a move is afoot to mak...

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From myHeritage.org October 19, 2011 The AFL-CIO is doing its part to support the Occupy Wall Street protests. Heritage Foundation investigative reporter Lachlan Markay discovered the union giant running Google advertisements to drum up support for the radical left-wing protests. In his...

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F. Vincent Vernuccio/ October 20, 2011 http://biggovernment.com/vmariano/2011/10/20/contentious-talks-uaw-ratifies-contract-with-ford-workers-say-better-for-union-than-members/ The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) is the winner in the recently-concluded Ford contract negotiations. While its rank an...

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(Sterling Heights, Mi.) - Terry Bowman, a founding member and spokesman for the Michigan Freedom to Work Coalition is calling recent support by Michigan's senate majority leader Randy Richardville (17th district) to bring "Freedom to Teach" legislation to Michigan as "very encouraging, but only a step in the right direction."

Richardville is supporting "Freedom to Teach" legislation which would recognize the right of teachers to refrain from joining or financially supporting a union as a condition of employment.

Bowman, a UAW member, says he is happy to see the senator agreeing with the concept of Right to Work, but thinks he is missing an opportunity to become a state-wide hero in Michigan. "Obviously Sen. Richardville has embraced the reality that a Right to Work law cures the civil rights violations which compulsory unionism forces on workers around the state. He clearly believes that Right to Work legislation economically benefits both the State of Michigan and union workers. Since that is true, why wouldn't he support Right to Work legislation for all union workers in Michigan? Those same benefits should be extended to all of Michigan's union workers, public and private, because they deserve equal respect and equal rights."

Bowman addressed these issues while speaking to the Willow Run Tea Party Caucus in Ypsilanti on Friday night. "The Michigan Freedom to Work Coalition has dedicated itself to fighting for freedom for all union workers, not just to one specific group. We have constructed a state-wide grassroots support system of thousands of activists for Freedom to Work legislation, and we invite the senate majority leader to join with us and support Freedom to Work rights for ALL union workers."

"Since Michigan Freedom to Work Coalition has been so successful, we think Sen. Richardville is calling his own legislation - Freedom to Teach - so close to ours in order to appear as if there is already support for his bill in place. There is not. Michigan Freedom to Work is not interested in showing favoritism to some union workers, while rejecting others. We want all union workers to enjoy the same freedoms."

Michigan Freedom to Work formed just this year, and has already become the chief voice in Michigan for the passage of Right to Work legislation. There is already wide support in both Michigan houses for the Michigan Freedom to Work Coalition and Bowman promised that his group will accept nothing less than a Freedom to Work law that includes every union worker in the state of Michigan. "The idea of picking winners and losers through legislation is wrong for all residents in Michigan. Clearly, Sen. Richardville has chosen teachers as the only union workers worthy of Right to Work legislation."

"Freedom to Teach" unfortunately does nothing to bring additional industry or jobs to Michigan, Bowman continued. "Passing a Freedom to Work law for all union employees however, will do for Michigan what it has done for other states that have done the same. Both Idaho and Oklahoma, the last two states to become Labor Freedom states, led the nation in job growth the following year after passage. The senate majority leader should change his position and instead become a state-wide leader in this issue so he can put that feather in his cap."

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Republican lawmakers say time is right despite Snyder's concerns

Paul Egan/ Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing— A lack of interest from Republican Gov. Rick Snyder hasn't stopped a push to make Michigan the first Rust Belt state with a right-to-work law.

A GOP lawmaker said he plans to introduce legislation this fall, and several groups are backing the proposed change.

If it's approved, Michigan would become the 23rd state in the nation to make it illegal to require workers to join or financially support a union as a condition of employment.

But the change — not expected to happen without a fierce and costly fight — would also mark a stunning first based on Michigan's history as an organized labor stronghold and the birthplace of the powerful United Auto Workers.

"The climate is right and the chemistry in Lansing is right," said Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, who is working on bills he believes will have strong support in the House. "The sentiments in the public are also very supportive."

Read the entire article

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Mark Mix notes in the latest National Right to Work Committee Newsletter:

"From 2000 to 2010, the inflation-adjusted outlays of private-sector businesses for employee compensation (including wages, salaries, bonuses and benefits) increased by an average of 11.8% in Right to Work states. That increase is nine times as great as forced unionism states' 1.3% rise over the same period.

"Moreover, data from the nonpartisan Missouri Economic Research and Information Center show that in 2010, the average cost of living in forced-unionism states was nearly 19% higher than in Right to Work states. When cost of living is taken into account, the average wage and salary income per private sector worker in Right to Work states last year was $46,941, about $1,100 above the average for non-Right to Work states."

Read the rest.

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From Michael Mandel's blog:

We all know that state and local government finances are a mess. This chart helps explain why.

...The chart shows that public and private sector pay rose in parallel from 2001 to 2004. Then the lines diverged. Since early 2005, public sector pay has risen by 5% in real terms. Meanwhile, private sector pay has been flat...

The arithmetic is very clear. State and local governments can’t keep funding higher wages and better benefits for their workers, while the private sector struggles. As a wise man once said, you can’t wring blood from a stone. And you can’t ask troubled taxpayers to pony up bigger pay gains for government workers than they are getting themselves.

Read the rest.

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From their website:

With state governments across
the country struggling to balance budgets and fund basic services over the demands of big government unions, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in partnership with Crossroads GPS, has launched the Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index – a tool to empower citizens to challenge these unions’ oversized political clout.

Using 1,150 data points, the index ranks each state in 23 different categories to determine where government union lobbyists have maximum sway over policymakers, and where the fiscal concerns of taxpayers are most strongly represented.

The initiative’s interactive map allows citizens to easily navigate the data and find information about government employee union activity in their states. The entire index can be viewed at CEI's labor policy website, WorkplaceChoice.org.

“For too long, government unions have driven up spending and debt to maximize their power at taxpayers’ expense,” said Crossroads GPS President Steven Law. “Now a new generation of governors is taking on the government labor leviathan, and we want to equip citizens to join that fight...”

View the new tool on-line at this link.

View the full press release here.

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Via the Detroit News, Rep. Melton has resigned.

This provides the possibility of a Republican taking the seat. MI Freedom to Work is a non-partisan organization, but our issue tends to split along party lines, as union officials rely on the state, and therefore the more economically government-oriented party, to maintain their monopoly on workers' wages.

An additional Republican in the House would likely bolster the cause of Freedom to Work in the state legislature. Let's hope a good one emerges.

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An article in the National Review last June highlighted a new tactic by union bosses: holding elections just days after they are announced, leaving other candidates with no time to prepare.

Imagine a political election in which only one party were given the opportunity to tell voters its side of the story, and could set an election date only days away, all without prior notice to the other side. Sound unfair? This is the model the Obama board intends to impose on American business for union-representation elections.

One of the cardinal roles of the NLRB is to protect employees’ free and informed decisions on the issue of union representation.  Consistent with that goal, the board has over many decades arrived at election procedures that allow for an election window of three to six weeks after a petition is filed.  This permits the board to conduct a statutorily required hearing if the parties are unable to reach agreement on certain pre-election issues and to complete other pre-election requirements.  The window also gives management the opportunity to learn about the union and either support it or assemble a case against it and make its reasons known to its workers.

Organized labor abhors this opportunity because employees are less likely to vote for union representation if they are given the opportunity to consider both sides.

A reliable source tells us the Obama-handpicked National Labor Relations Board is planning to simply pass this "quickie election" policy unilaterally.

The NLRB is required by law to respond to public comments, and the public comment period ends August 22.  Supporters of freedom may wish to contact the NLRB and register their dissent.

More importantly, share this latest assault on our civil liberties with your voting friends and neighbors.

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Last week, the community of Labertville, Michigan was rocked by an incident of vandalism that became an attempted homicide.

WTOL reports:

John King was shot in the arm last week when he surprised a man trying to slash the tires on the truck at his Lambertville home. The word "scab" was also scrawled on the side...

When he stepped out of his front door, the man fired one shot and ran off.

King is the owner of the largest non-union electrical contracting company in the area.

Watch the video here:


As the reporter notes, political disagreements should be discussed, and action taken in the sphere of legitimate political activity.

What happened here was pure terrorism. The forced-unionist terrorist attempted to bully this Michigan business owner by attacking his car, but caught in the act, he didn't think twice to shoot the victim.

King was lucky to be alive. Now he will live with this fear for the rest of his life.

This is a fear many members MI Freedom to Work, particularly our outspoken union members, now must suffer, too. If it happened to this citizen, it can happen to anyone on the front lines of battle for freedom in the workplace.

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This was posted in today's Wall Street Journal. The Journal's "letters" page appears to only have a link to the letters of the day, so this link to the page might not contain the letter for retrieval in the future, but here is the letter:

Advancing Unions Via Fiat From Boards and Agencies

Eugene Scalia rightly points out that what the Democrats could not achieve via Congress, they are attempting to achieve by fiat via the National Labor Relations Board ("Obama's New Gifts to Organized Labor," op-ed, Aug. 9). This policy maneuver is not only meant to cut off business from having a coherent response to a bargaining action, but to remove the ability of affected workers to repel the union as well. Affected members who disagree with representation are even less well-equipped than are businesses to repel the union action on such short notice.

We launched such a counter-offensive at Washington State University in 2008 when the United Auto Workers undertook a very aggressive card-check style push to force unionization of graduate students. I, along with several other graduate students, notified some 2,000 affected graduate students about the union's action, despite having neither UAW money nor UAW manpower to do so (as our opponents had). We helped people revoke their elections to join the union. The UAW's action to unionize WSU graduate students failed. Our response to a group bankrolled by the UAW cost us time and money but was well worth the fight.

Ironically, I've moved back to Michigan and joined a faculty that is organized. It is my fervent hope that Michiganders will become aware of Michigan Freedom to Work (www.mifreedomtowork.com) that would give members of unions the right to opt out of representation. It is long overdue.

Heather Knewtson

Central Michigan University

Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

If you haven't already, consider writing a letter to the editor of your local paper. It's the most-read page of the paper, after the front page, and letters can be influential in building discussion.

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MI Freedom to Work member Melinda Day has won her complaint against the University of Michigan's attempt to force graduate research students into the Graduate Employees Organization and extract union dues.

Via Michigan Capitol Confidential:

MIDLAND — The Michigan Employment Relations Commission this morning rejected by a 3-0 vote a petition by the Graduate Employees Organization to unionize graduate student research assistants at the University of Michigan. In delivering the decision, MERC cited a 1981 ruling in which it had already held that these students were not public employees and were therefore outside its jurisdiction.

Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Director Patrick J. Wright praised the decision as “a victory for the rule of law,” remarking: “MERC enforced the law, rather than allowing a politically divided U of M Board of Regents to bypass it through a hasty resolution. This resolution called for a public employee union election for a group of students who weren’t public employees in the first place. The regents have no legal authority to expand the statutory definition of public employees.”

The MCLF, citing the 1981 MERC precedent, had filed a motion with MERC on behalf of U of M graduate student research assistant Melinda Day. The motion sought to allow Day to participate in MERC’s deliberations on the union petition.

Responding to MERC’s ruling, Day said: “This is a welcome sign that not everyone is willing to toss aside the rights of students in order to appease special interests. The Board of Regents betrayed me and the rest of the graduate students they were supposed to defend, and our concerns were treated as either trivial or extremist. Now, both of the major Detroit newspapers and the Michigan Employment Relations Commission have agreed with U of M’s president: We’re not public employees, and we’re not subject to forced unionization.”

Read the rest.

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