Posts tagged Michigan
Hearst Magazines Union stages walkout after WGA East contract expires
February 3, 2026 // Members of the Writers Guild of America East at Hearst Magazines staged a half-day walkout Tuesday after negotiations with management failed to produce a second collective bargaining agreement before their contract expired. The action affects roughly 400 union members whose first contract expired Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. Workers held walkouts and rallies at Hearst Tower in Manhattan as well as at Hearst offices in Los Angeles; Easton, Pennsylvania; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Birmingham, Alabama.
Birch Run teachers union president decries state testing
January 25, 2026 // Test scores from M-STEP, Michigan’s assessment of public school students, paint an unfavorable picture of Urbanowski-Nowak’s district. More than two-thirds (68%) of third graders at Birch Run Area Schools were not proficient on the English Language Arts exam in 2024-25. Two-thirds (66%) of the district’s third-grade students were not proficient in math in 2024-25. Research by the group Tennesseans for Quality Early Education concludes that proficiency in reading and math by the end of third grade is one of the strongest predictors of future academic achievement and career success.
Teachers union distorts record on education spending
January 22, 2026 // Michigan spent $6,391 per pupil in 2000, according to Michael Van Beek, director of research at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. That is $12,271 per student in today’s dollars. Per pupil funding was $14,911 in 2025, or 22% more than the inflation-adjusted amount for 2000.
Watson Commentary: Making the AFL-CIO great again: labor policy in 2026
January 20, 2026 // The biggest labor issue of all might be the changing composition of what remains of the union movement. Goodbye, manual-labor men; hello purple-haired they/them grad students.
Ford employee who heckled Trump got suspended from his job
January 19, 2026 // A message seeking comment from Ford to confirm if the worker was fired or suspended was not immediately returned on Tuesday evening. The worker has since been identified by the Washington Post as 40-year-old TJ Sabula, a line worker and member of UAW Local 600. Sabula told the paper he has "no regrets" about what happened at the factory. "I don't feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity," Sabula told the Post. "And today I think I did that."
Caregivers pay SEIU dues for no real union benefits
January 15, 2026 // The caregivers’ union doesn’t have the power to bargain with the Department of Health and Human Services over wages or working conditions. Stipends for home caregivers are decided legislatively. In sum, the SEIU can collect dues, but it can’t negotiate better pay and working conditions — the very reason unions typically exist. At best, it can “advocate” for higher wages, something that is more akin to lobbying than bargaining. So, what’s the point of this union? The only real answer is that this is just another partisan power grab to fill the coffers of its preferred political party.
Commentary: Right-to-Work States Dominate U-Haul Growth Index
January 12, 2026 // Among the top ten growth states in the U-Haul index, nine have a Right-to-Work law that protects workers from being forced to pay dues to union bosses as a condition of employment. -Among the bottom ten states in the U-Haul index, NONE has a Right-to-Work law. All are forced unionism states. -Of the 25 top ranked cities in the U-Haul Growth Index, 24 are located in Right-to-Work states. The 10 best ranked states in the U-Haul Growth Index are Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Alabama and Georgia. All are Right-to-Work except Washington.
Steelworkers Union hit with unfair labor practice charges by Viking Corporation employee
December 22, 2025 // Kristen Dickinson, who works for the fire-sprinkler manufacturer, submitted the charges to the National Labor Relations Board with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys. The filings allege union officials told workers Viking was operating as a “closed shop,” meaning employees could be fired if they refused formal union membership. Closed shops have been illegal nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court’s General Motors v. NLRB ruling in 1963.
UAW member wants federal monitor to investigate local president
December 20, 2025 // A member of UAW Local 6000, based in Lansing, Mich., has asked a federal court-appointed monitor to investigate the local's president, Rachael Dickinson, for alleged corruption and retaliation. An internal UAW investigation found Dickinson engaged in a pattern of discrimination toward minority women, including stripping elected leaders of their duties. The request compares Dickinson's alleged actions to those of UAW International President Shawn Fain, who is also under investigation by the monitor for retaliation.
Viking Corporation Employee Slams Steelworkers Union With Federal Charges for “Closed Shop” Firing Threats
December 4, 2025 // When Dickinson emailed a Viking HR representative for clarification on her obligations, the HR rep claimed that “Per the new Michigan [Right to Work repeal] law and the Contract…those employees who do not sign the check-off authorization card, will not be allowed to work at Viking.” Dickinson’s charges include a charge against Viking management for repeating the misrepresentations of union officials. Dickinson’s charges also maintain that Steelworkers union bosses “violated the NLRA because [they] demanded that Charging Party, and all similarly situated nonmember discriminatees, opt-out of paying for political and ideological activities, instead of opting-in to make such political and ideological payments.” Supreme Court precedent, including the Foundation-won Knox v. SEIU case, establish the principle that union officials cannot assume that workers have waived their right to abstain from funding union politics.