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All eyes are on Michigan this week. The Obama administration told labor leaders that the president will be weighing in on the right-to-work fight in his speech.

That’s because Proposition 32 bristles with enormous loopholes tailor-made for businesses and their wealthy backers. To begin with, it exempts such common business structures as LLCs, partnerships and real estate trusts. If you’re a venture investor, land developer or law firm, Proposition 32 doesn’t lay a finger on you.
The drafters, who include conservative attorneys Thomas Hiltachk and Michael Capaldi, know full well that payroll deductions are how unions get almost all of their funds, and businesses get almost none of theirs.

According to a new report from its Inspector General, the Department of Justice has failed to take the necessary precautions to stop contractors with criminal histories from receiving federally funded work.

Striking Waste Management workers in Seattle braced for a showdown yesterday when an estimated 200 replacement workers were expected to arrive for their first day on the job. Complaints from customers and threats from the city have forced Waste Management to resume regular garbage pickup, but rather than negotiate with striking Teamster members they decided to bring in help/scabs from out-of-state.
“The company wants us to cave, because we see replacement workers doing our jobs,” says union driver Brent Barrett.