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For more than a decade, Western Michigans food and commercial workers union has been in a defensive crouch after Republicans made union membership optional in a state once synonymous with organized labor. The union shifted from expansion and organizing to just trying to hold down attrition as workers opted out of paying their dues.

On Tuesday, the newly elected Democratic-led State Legislature gave final approval to a bill repealinga so-called right-to-work law. It was the latest in a raft of legislation out of Washington and Democratic state capitals meant to reverse the decline of organized labor and bolster Democratic political strength in elections to come.

But John Cakmakci, president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 951 in Grand Rapids, warned that a rebound would take time as the states labor apparatus relearns how to organize workers and expand. That means the payoff to Democrats could be muted for now.

Do I think we can rebound? Absolutely, said Mr. Cakmakci (pronounced Cack-mack-ee). Are we ready now? No.

Since 1947, when a conservative Congress passed legislation allowing states to adopt right-to-work legislation, 27 states and the territory of Guam have passed laws or constitutional amendments that give workers the right to opt out of their union dues, even if wages, benefits and work rules at their place of employment are set by a union contract.

The ensuing free rider problem workers getting the benefit of representation without paying dues helped lead to a sharp decline in organized labor, as unions in right-to-work states tried, often in vain, to keep existing members signed up instead of organizing new workplaces. Nationally, union membership last year dropped to 10.1 percent of all workers, half of what the rate was in 1983.

When Michigans Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, signs the new legislation in the coming days, Michigan will become the first state in nearly 60 years to roll back the right-to-work rules, fulfilling a campaign promise Democrats made to unions before they swept control of both chambers of the Legislature as well as the governors mansion in November.

No one should be surprised that we are in this moment, Ms. Whitmer said in an interview. Weve done what weve said we were going to do, and were going to continue to live up to the promise we made to people and live our values.

But to unions, the damage has been done, afterRepublicans shocked a state where labor was king and passed right-to-work rules in 2012. Indiana passed the same law that year, and Wisconsin followed suit in 2015 over boisterous protests that led to an unsuccessful recall of the Republican governor, Scott Walker.

Union membership in Michigan dropped by almost 93,000, from 16 percent to 13 percent in 2021. Certain sectors were more pronounced. Union membership among government employees dropped to 45 percent from 55 percent, and because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that government workers cannot be compelled to join a union, Michigan Democrats can do nothing to reverse that slide. Unionization at private employers in Michigan has reached 9.1 percent. The free-rider rate the number of workers covered by union contracts but not paying union dues has tripled, to 14 percent from 3.6 percent, weakening union bargaining power and draining union treasuries.

An analysis published last year by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan clearinghouse of academic study, looked at work force trends in the five states that have passed right-to-work laws since 2011 Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Kentucky. The findings: States with these laws have unionization rates that are 20 percent lower than states without such laws, while wages in right-to-work states are 7.5 percent lower than states where union dues are compulsory for unionized workplaces.

Michigan Republicans who pushed through the labor law a decade ago said crippling the unions was never a goal. They wanted to see the kind of economic dynamism that right-to-work states in the South have shown, as Mercedes, Boeing, Hyundai, B.M.W. and other manufacturers opened plants there. Jase Bolger, a Republican who was Michigan House speaker at the time, said the economic renaissance in Michigan over the past decade was now at risk.

This was never about hurting unions it was about empowering workers, Mr. Bolger said. Workers are about to have their freedom to choose stripped away from them, and Democrats are underestimating how workers will respond to that.

The real question might be how the unions respond. Michigan Democrats actually passed two separate repeals one for the private sector and one for the public sector knowing the government repeal will not withstand a challenge under a 2018 Supreme Court decision.

There are going to be people who decide not to pay their fair share, said David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers local in Michigan. We know that.

Ron Bieber, the president of the Michigan A.F.L.-C.I.O., said conditions were ripe for a union comeback. Unemployment is low, the job market is tight and wages are falling behind inflation.

Theres room to grow, he said. Theres always room to grow.

But the once-mighty United Auto Workers union has been in turmoil. It has beenlocked in a contested leadership election between the longtime chief, Ray Curry, and an insurgent rank-and-file electrician, Shawn Fain, whose core complaint is that the union has grown lazy in fighting to expand and to demand better wages and benefits.

Marick Masters, a business professor and expert on labor at Wayne State University in Detroit, said the U.A.W. represented less than 20 percent of the automotive work force, which makes up only about half of its total membership. Because electric vehicles take fewer workers on final assembly, the union must organize battery plants and other parts suppliers just to tread water, he said.

The U.A.W. has to organize, Mr. Masters said. I dont know if its ready, but its track record would suggest its not.

Mr. Bieber said the unions that were fairly devastated over the past decade were in the service industry, where employees are transient, wages are low and union dues are a difficult pitch.

Mr. Cakmakci with the United Food & Commercial Workers Union in Grand Rapids said his locals membership had declined to 28,500, from 32,000 before right-to-work. Fifteen percent of workers at unionized shops are not paying their dues. Instead of organizing, union leaders spend their time keeping existing workers signed up, filing paperwork to show dues arent being coerced and answering to Republican demands on compliance.

Their long game was to bankrupt us, he said. Their short game was to keep us so busy we cant organize.

There have been advantages. The unions have had to prove their value to members, through new benefits like training and education, scholarships and assistance programs.

When dues were compulsory, we got lazy, as far as Im concerned, and the fact that Republicans took advantage of that, thats partly on us, Mr. Cakmakci said. In the right-to-work era, the job itself became much harder, but it made our union a lot stronger, mentally, physically and intellectually.

I do think we will be putting together an organizing team again, he added, but I dont want to go back to ignoring our members.

With so many doubts lingering, it is not clear how the labor laws repeal will help Democrats. Michigans Democratic lieutenant governor, Garlin Gilchrist II, said he was not looking for a return.

Weve had historic investments in manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing in different parts of Michigan, Mr. Gilchrist said in an interview. Were going to continue to build on that foundation, and thats what the state of Michigan is going to get. Its really not about what Democrats in the Legislature are going to get.

Union leaders are more transactional, acknowledging they are getting a return on the investments they made in Democrats last year.

Not just union members but working people in general are going to see the difference between what it means to have a worker-friendly administration and legislature and the worker-suppression attacks that we had before, Mr. Bieber said.

Katie Glueck contributed reporting.

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Michigan Democrats Set to Repeal Law That Hampered Unions - The New York Times

The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization has triggered a slew of abortion bans, with devastating consequences for women and their families. The lawsuit filed in Texas by five women and two doctors documents the danger and suffering the states abortion ban has inflicted on women, the dire consequences for women who need appropriate care for miscarriages, and the impact on the medical profession.

A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics documents that even before Dobbs, the United States already-high maternal death rate was rising (32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 compared with 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019), especially for Black women (2.6 times that of White women). After Dobbs, that figure can be expected to soar.

Where are the Senate hearings on this health crisis? Senators should bring in a variety of health-care specialists, hospital officials, medical ethicists, women, families of female victims, sociologists and statisticians (to highlight the economic, emotional and family impact when women are forced to give birth against their will), and legal scholars (to, among other things, explain the inherent vagueness and unworkability of state statutes). Senate Republicans who have cheered these bans should see evidence of the harm they support.

Hearings would serve an array of critical legislative purposes: to secure abortion access (despite the Houses forced-birth fanaticism), protect womens right to travel to secure critical care, enact appropriate policy for military and federal civilian personnel, or appropriate funding for further study.

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Opinion | Democrats are lagging on oversight - The Washington Post

Dive Brief:

Along with Scott, seven other Republican senators have cosponsored the resolution. A House version, introduced March 7, has 10 cosponsors five of them Democrats.

The two-year pause now in effect prevents any new tariffs associated with a U.S. Department of Commerce investigation into solar panel imports from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. The Biden administration sought to give the solar industry time to import components from those countries as it builds up a domestic supply chain.

The Commerce Department announced in December that it had made a preliminary affirmative determination that solar panels imported from those countries circumvented tariffs on Chinese-made solar components, delivering a blow to the industry. Commerces final determination is expected May 1.

Along with introducing the resolution, Scott joined Sen. Bill Posey, R-Fla., in sending a Feb. 16 letter to the secretaries of commerce and defense that said solar panels reportedly found on a Chinese balloon that had entered U.S. airspace in late January to early February were likely Chinese-made panels, therefore the moratorium should be overturned.

Not only is the Biden administration protecting Chinese solar companies and allowing them to continue illegal trade activity without consequence, but the administration is also quite possibly protecting the very same companies providing solar panels that are powering Chinese spy balloons, Scott and Posey wrote.

Barring any change, the pause will be effective through June 2024.

U.S.solar installations declined in 2021 and 2022, according to consulting firm Wood Mackenzie,as developers grappled with supply constraints resulting from the Commerce investigation, enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and COVIDs overall impact on the global supply chain.

But demand for solar projects increased in 2022 after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contained tax credits incentivizing renewable energy projects. Rosens memo said that the resolution of disapproval would undermine the success of the Inflation Reduction Act by starving the American solar market from critically important panels and cells that cannot be obtained in the U.S.

She said U.S. solar panel manufacturers are currently only able to meet 15% of domestic demand on their own.

Though domestic solar companies like First Solar are making large investments in rapid manufacturing expansions, doubt exists in the industry as to whether even the two-year pause would provide enough time for build-out.

Robb Jetty,chief operating officer at Distributed Solar Development, said in a December interview that a two-year timeline for establishing a robust domestic solar supply chain was literally impossible and there is no way that manufacturing capacity would be able to respond in that time period to meet the demands of projects that developers are going to want to bring online.

Rosens memo states that the pause was a prudent compromise to allow a transition period and that the misguided Republican resolution would upend the industrys delicate balance of supply and demand.

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Sen. Rosen urges fellow Democrats to keep solar tariff pause in ... - Utility Dive

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs a law to include the rights of LGBTQ people in Michigan's Civil Rights law on Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. Rick Pluta/Michigan Public Radio Network hide caption

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs a law to include the rights of LGBTQ people in Michigan's Civil Rights law on Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Lansing, Mich.

LANSING, Mich. In her State of the State address this year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had something no other Democratic governor has had since the early 1980s a legislature willing to pass her agenda, even if with only a two-seat majority in both chambers.

"We spoke with a clear voice in November," Whitmer said. "We want the ability to raise a family without breaking the bank, strong protections for our fundamental rights to vote and control our own bodies."

And Democrats have wasted no time getting their top priorities to the governor's desk. Within the first two months of the many-months long legislative session, Democrats passed their centerpiece tax plan, a bill to repeal the state's defunct 1931 abortion ban and legislation to create civil rights protections for LGBTQ people.

Some items, like the civil rights expansion, came with a few Republican votes while the abortion ban repeal fell closer to party lines.

"I am grateful that we are finally, finally addressing it and repealing this archaic and punitive law once and for all," said Democratic Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, who sponsored the abortion repeal. Pohutsky physically tore a page containing the old law from a book of Michigan statutes as she spoke.

But it hasn't all been easy. Democratic leadership learned a tough lesson when votes over the big tax cut got messy.

The plan started as two separate proposals to roll back taxes on pension income and increase the earned income tax credit, but funding for business incentives and other spending got roped in.

When the House vote did come up, after hours of waiting, no one was allowed to speak. Republican anger was palpable as they shouted down leadership.

This moxy comes after years of Democrats feeling powerless in the minority, often being gaveled down. Now, they're finding themselves using some of the same tactics they once criticized Republicans for.

"Voters exercised their power in terms of what they wanted us to do," said Democratic House Speaker Joe Tate. "They want us to be effective and I think we've shown that."

Now, Democrats are rushing to pass the last of their early goals before going on spring break.

That means getting labor priorities, like repealing the state's 2012 right-to-work law and a requirement for construction contracts to pay prevailing wage to the governor. Also, a deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University pushed gun control bills up on the priority list.

A large crowd attends a rally to demand action on gun safety at the Michigan State Capitol on March 15, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. The rally comes as gun safety bills are making their way through the Michigan legislature. Chris duMond/Getty Images hide caption

A large crowd attends a rally to demand action on gun safety at the Michigan State Capitol on March 15, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. The rally comes as gun safety bills are making their way through the Michigan legislature.

Meanwhile, Republicans are hoping that speed backfires. While their colleagues are selling the labor proposals as pro-worker, Republicans argue they're unpopular and expensive.

"This is the beginning of the Democrat overreach that's going to lead to their demise and the Republicans taking back the House," Republican House Minority Leader Matt Hall told reporters ahead of his chamber passing right-to-work repeal legislation.

"They shouldn't gulp, they should sip," says Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan President and CEO Jimmy Greene who has been a longtime supporter of right-to-work.

He says he understands why Democrats are moving so fast this time around but warns against them overplaying their hand.

"They should show that they're responsible with power. Right now, it looks like they're power hungry," Greene says.

It's hard to tell how strong the Democratic majority truly is, Greene says. Arguably, Democrats won control of the legislature with the help of a massive turnout spurred on by an abortion rights ballot measure. Not to mention newly independently drawn voting districts that ended up competitive anyway.

One factor in Democrats' favor, though infighting within the state Republican Party.

"I think the Republican party is the best gift Democrats have. The idea that they're doing all this right now with [an] absolutely dysfunctional, inoperative, broke party apparatus?" Greene says. "Let's be honest. They're not afraid of Republicans. I wouldn't be."

There could be a long road ahead. The legislature still has all year to meet.

Colin Jackson is the capitol reporter at the Michigan Public Radio Network.

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Michigan works to pass LGBTQ protections, repeal abortion, right-to ... - NPR

Its so much in Donald Trumps character to violate the entire regime governing gifts from foreign states, Mr. Raskin said. He added that Trump is exactly someone who the framers had in mind when they included the emoluments clauses in the Constitution, which bars any federal office holder from accepting any type of gift from a foreign state without Congresss consent to prevent American policy from being dictated by foreigners.

The report also raised issues involving a domestic gift. It cited an email exchange from Jan. 15, 2021, in which the Trump White Houses top ethics lawyer, Scott Gast, expressed concerns that a Mac Pro computer from Mr. Cook, which was valued at $5,999, had been intended as a gift to the U.S. government, not Mr. Trump. Gifts that are given to the government are considered government property and cannot be taken by officials.

In response, a Trump aide, Desiree Thompson Sayle, said, Well, we cant find it.

A year later, in Mr. Trumps financial disclosure forms, he listed the computer among the gifts he had received and kept. The episode in some ways echoed a dispute involving former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton after they left the White House in 2001. They were accused of taking a sofa, a rug and chairs from the White House that had been given to the government, not them. The Clintons ultimately returned the furnishings.

A spreadsheet compiled by White House aides in the final days of the Trump administration listed gifts that Mr. Trump needed to decide whether he wanted to keep. Among the items that he had already decided to accept and publicly disclose was a gold pendant necklace that he had received during a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2017.

The necklace, which was valued at $6,400, was on moving truck to Mar-a-Lago, according to the spreadsheet. There is no evidence Mr. Trump paid for the necklace. In response to questions from the committee, the National Archives said it believed it was in possession of the necklace but had not gone through its warehouse to find it.

Matthew Cullen contributed reporting.

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Trump Failed to Follow Law on Foreign Gifts, House Democrats Say - The New York Times