Friday, December 21, 2012

NPR, December 14, 2012, Friday

NPR

December 14, 2012, Friday

NPR (full article)

In Midwest Union Fights, Michigan Shows 2010 Election Still Trumps 2012

Tuesday's passage of "right to work" legislation in a state dominated by the auto industry and the historically powerful United Auto Workers was a surprising "smack in the face" to unions, says labor expert Lee Adler, especially given President Obama's nearly 10-point win in the state last month.

The action by the GOP-controlled legislature in a post-election lame duck session is the surest sign yet, Adler says, of how losses suffered by more union-friendly Democrats two years ago in key statehouse races continue to reverberate.

"The November election did not solve the losses suffered in 2010," says Adler, of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the author of books on organized labor's history, and future.