James O’Keefe, the “film” producer who spends his life trying to take down any organization valued by progressives with heavily-edited videos of “stings” he orchestrates has been spending time in Michigan this year trying to bring down the American Federation of Teachers. Fortunately, a combination of an O’Keefe operative’s stupidity and the intelligence of the AFT’s staff resulted O’Keefe’s crew […]

In one of the major labor victories since Republicans made the birthplace of organized labor in America a so-called “right to work” state, 1000+ nurses at Traverse City’s Munson Medical Center will now be represented by a union for the first time: A vote to unionize registered nurses at Munson Medical Center will soon be certified. The two-day election took […]

In a recent op-ed in Composites World, a trade magazine for the advanced composites industry, North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT) CEO James Austin presents his view on what the protectionist approach to trade led by Donald Trump will likely lead to. His piece is titled “Process automation: A model response to Trumponomics and Brexit” and, in it, he contends that […]

The Ford Motor Co. announced today that it is expanding operations in three Michigan plants and will spend over a billion dollars in the process: Ford Motor Co. will invest $1.2 billion in three Michigan facilities to prepare for production of the all-new Ford Ranger and Bronco, and to support the company’s expansion into mobility. The company said Tuesday it […]

NOTE: This post has been updated HERE with photos of the protest against Trump and analysis of his comments while he was in Michigan. All three Detroit autoworkers are busing UAW members in to Pr*sident Trump’s visit to Ypsilanti, Michigan later today and all but Ford are giving the workers food and are paying them for the privilege: The Detroit […]

Hallelujah It’s no secret that the for-profit charter school industry is like the Wild West when it comes to being able to do just about anything they want. Michigan is one of the most permissive states in the country when it comes to oversight of charter schools and there are miscreants out there taking full advantage of that in order […]

The following guest post was written by Rebecca Thompson. Thompson is a native Detroiter and the Executive Director of Good Jobs Now, a partner of the Center for Popular Democracy. The organization fights for economic and social justice for low wage workers and Detroiters. She lives on Detroit’s east side. Enjoy. Today marks the 78th anniversary of the Fair Labor […]

I received a press release the other day from the Michigan State AFL-CIO, the umbrella federation for U.S. and Michigan unions. The group is made up of 56 unions representing 12.5 million working men and women. The headline made me smile and sent a glimmer of sunshine in what has been some very dark days for people of conscience and […]

I recently wrote about Michigan teacher Mary Davenport, a woman who had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in support from her union, the Michigan Education Association (MEA), only to turn around and claim they “weren’t there when she needed them.” She was duped into being the poster child for the campaign by the corporate front group Mackinac Center to […]

Do you ever feel like you never seem to be able to get ahead? That you work your whole life but, at the end of the month, the end of the year, you aren’t any further ahead than you were last month or last year? This one chart goes a long way toward explaining exactly why that is: As the […]

Last December, the National Labor Relations Board issued a new rule to “modernize and streamline the process” of forming a union. The new rule: Provides for electronic filing and transmission of election petitions and other documents; Ensures that employees, employers and unions receive timely information they need to understand and participate in the representation case process; Eliminates or reduces unnecessary […]