Posts tagged Michigan
Nurses walk off job at Henry Ford Rochester Hospital in labor dispute
June 10, 2025 // The hospital states that it staffs its hospitals based on patient volumes and other factors and that mandated staffing ratios hinder its ability to adapt to varying patient conditions. The two sides are also at odds over what the union claims is bad faith bargaining and alleges that they are being retaliated against.
Home health care provider urges caution over SEIU petition
June 6, 2025 // Gloria Henry, the mother of a special needs child has a message for home health care providers now that a Service Employees International Union member showed up at her house. Anyone who is visited by an SEIU representative should be wary of what they are signing, Henry told Michigan Capitol Confidential. The union is collecting signatures to organize caregivers who care for their loved ones at home. The Legislature approved a law in fall 2024 that categorized home caretakers as government employees
Mercedes-Benz is yanking 400 jobs out of Michigan — and ‘doubling down’ on Georgia
May 27, 2025 // Georgia is on its way to becoming a key automotive hub in the U.S. Porsche (VWAGY) opened its North American headquarters there in 1998. Kia (HYMTF) opened its first North American plant in West Point in 2010. More recently, Hyundai opened an EV factory there in March 2025, touting it as “the largest economic development project in the state’s history [...].” Back in Michigan, a Mercedes-Benz Financial Services spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press that the company is maintaining 180 R&D jobs in the state. “That number will grow to up to 200 total technical roles in Michigan for Mercedes-Benz,” said communications director Melinda Mernovage. “The roles leaving Michigan are not layoffs, and all employees will have the opportunity to transfer to the Atlanta headquarters.”
Stellantis Announces $388 Million Investment in Metro Detroit Megahub
May 26, 2025 // The AutoStore system uses compact robots that navigate tracks above a high-density grid of storage bins to retrieve parts and deliver them to workstations, where employees pack and process final shipments. This advanced automation improves order speed and accuracy, maximizes storage efficiency and helps accelerate delivery times for customers and dealers. As part of its broader consolidation strategy, Stellantis recently sold its Michigan parts distribution centers (PDC) in Center Line and Marysville, as well as one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Operations at these facilities will continue under a sale-leaseback agreement, providing essential support until the Metro Detroit Megahub and Warren Sherwood e-coat upfitting facility are complete.
‘We deserve to be treated with respect’: More than 300 workers go on strike at Detroit-area nursing homes
May 21, 2025 // The workers are seeking an increased wage scale for Competency Evaluated Nurse Assistants (CENAs) and increased starting rates for Ciena workers in housekeeping, dietary, activities, cooking and maintenance. Other demands include shift differentials, annual raises for all workers, paid sick time, holidays and health insurance. The workers have been working without a contract for months, with some working without a contract since January of 2024.
MICHIGAN: Independent Contractor Restrictions, New Wage Mandates Advance in Senate Proposal
May 18, 2025 // Senate Bills 6 and 7 would reshape employment laws in Michigan by adding problematic and onerous new “wage transparency” mandates and penalties on ALL employers and industries. Although the Senate Labor Committee limited the California-style independent contractor test to the construction industry (NAICS Sector 23), the change will significantly hinder the industry’s ability to use contractors and subcontractors — including business-to-business relationships — ultimately driving up costs across the board.
Hundreds of union workers locked out of Mount Pleasant factory
May 12, 2025 // "We're steelworkers," said Mike Bilodeau, a staff representative for the United Steelworkers Union District 1. "We don't give up fighting. We don't give up wanting to work." The lockout began at 5 a.m. Wednesday, leaving 430 employees unable to enter their workplace. Delfield, which provides serving, fabrication, and refrigeration solutions, has been in contract negotiations with the union for two months.
Teamsters: South Jersey cannabis workers unionizing in Mays Landing
May 7, 2025 // Teamsters set out about three years ago to unionize the cannabis industries. It has recorded more than 30 collective bargaining agreements among workforces in California, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts and Michigan. “This is inherently a core industry for our union,” union spokesman Matt McQuaid said this week. “If you look at most of the core segments of the cannabis supply chain — agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, and retail — these are all jobs where the Teamsters have represented workers for decades.”
Caregivers protest union effort to skim home helpers’ pay
April 30, 2025 // The SEIU quietly swept 60,000 home-based caregivers into its ranks in 2005, assisted by a mechanism established under Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Caregivers who did not consent to withdrawals saw the union take money from their paychecks in a practice the Mackinac Center for Public Policy dubbed a dues skim. Home caregivers enjoyed protection from the dues skim for 11 years after the state ended the practice. Last fall, lawmakers reestablished the legal mechanism by which the union could enroll caregivers as members and collect dues. It's not as easy for unions to take that money, however, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2016 Janus v. AFSCME ruling, which protects public sector employees from being required to join a union as a condition of employment.
Darn good policy’ George Leef on Right to Work and Rethinking Higher Education
April 20, 2025 // While acknowledging some setbacks — “Michigan being key among them” — Leef remains optimistic. “Union membership keeps shrinking. The union clout, I think, is less than it used to be,” he attests. Leef attributes this to a growing awareness among workers that, “unions don’t always represent the people they claim to; they’re oftentimes lining their own pockets.” Leef argues that labor relations were healthier before federal interference. “In our early history, people could sign up if they wanted to, or they were free to not sign up… Then the federal government stepped in and insisted that unions had some special right to represent workers,” he says.