Michigan workers continue to seek freedom from union bosses, fight back against union boss malfeasance in wake of Right to Work repeal

Detroit, MI (September 12, 2024) – Production and maintenance employees at Hydra-Lock Corp. a hydraulic tooling company based in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, have just submitted a petition seeking a vote to remove United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 155 union officials from power at their workplace. Hydra-Lock employee Keith Woody submitted the petition to National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 7 in Detroit with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions. Woody’s petition contains signatures from the majority of his colleagues in support of having a decertification election, well over the 30% threshold of employee signatures needed to trigger such a vote under NLRB rules.

Michigan legislators’ 2023 repeal of the state’s Right to Work protections went into effect this February, meaning UAW union officials have the legal power to enforce contracts that require Woody and his coworkers to pay dues or fees as a condition of getting or keeping a job. In Right to Work states, in contrast, union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary.

If Woody and his coworkers’ decertification effort succeeds, they will be free from both the UAW’s power to speak and contract for all workers in the facility (including the majority that oppose the union), and the obligation to pay dues as a condition of employment.

Michigan Legislators Repealed Right to Work Despite Massive UAW Scandal

In March 2023, a bare majority of Michigan legislators voted along partisan lines to repeal Right to Work at the behest of union special interests, ending workers’ ability to decide for themselves whether or not union officials deserve their dues money. The imposition of union bosses’ power to force employees to “pay up or be fired” came despite polling showing Michiganders, including those in union households, overwhelmingly opposed the elimination of workers’ Right to Work protections.

After the repeal became effective this February, workers from across the Great Lakes State sought help from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in escaping union bosses’ forced-dues demands. The total cases that Foundation attorneys have filed for Michigan workers in 2024 is already well more than double the number for all of 2023. Foundation-backed workers from across the state have recounted a wide variety of union boss misdeeds since the repeal, including forcing workers with religious objections to join and pay dues, taking dues money directly from workers’ paychecks without their permission, coercing workers into contributing to union Political Action Committees (PACs), and more.

The Michigan Right to Work repeal also came after a years-long federal probe revealed massive corruption within the UAW hierarchy. At least 13 UAW officials received jail sentences for embezzling and spending millions in workers’ dues money on luxury goods, vacations, and other personal items. Federal agents are still monitoring the Detroit-based union, and have recently investigated reports that current UAW President Shawn Fain is misappropriating union property.

“The UAW’s implosion over the embezzlement scandal should have been more than enough evidence for Michigan legislators that workers deserve the right to withhold their money from union bosses who are corrupt, abrasive, or just flat out ineffective,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Instead, as a purely political favor, Michigan policymakers granted union officials the power to have workers fired for refusing to support union agendas, and we’re now seeing worker backlash throughout the state.

“Michigan workers should not hesitate to contact National Right to Work Foundation attorneys for free assistance in standing up for what rights they still have in this new legal environment,” Mix added.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.