Lapointe: 'Right-to-work' was always wrong, as Jimmy Hoffa told me

Lapointe: ‘Right-to-work’ was always wrong, as Jimmy Hoffa told me
It’s time for a new era at the United Auto Workers

By Joe Lapointe on Thu, Mar 16, 2023 at 6:00 am


(Detroit Metro Times) It is good for Michigan’s Democratic leadership to abolish the “right-to-work” law in the Great Lakes State. The decade-old scheme was instituted by Republican legislators in a lame-duck session in 2012 to damage unions in a state that once backed workers’ rights.

The debate brought back memories of my first conversation about “right-to-work.” It was with none other than Jimmy Hoffa, who stood next to me off camera at the studios of WTVS, Channel 56.

....(snip)....

Hoffa was less than a year out of federal prison for a variety of felonies and he had less than three years to live. I was a 21-year-old, wet-behind-the-ears, newlywed journalism student at Wayne State University, trying to report a feature for the student newspaper, The South End.

Before the show, Buckley stood on the other side of the big room, talking with a producer. Hoffa nodded his head in (William F.) Buckley’s direction and spoke to me in a confidential tone of voice.

“Don’t trust this guy,” Hoffa said of Buckley. “He’s a right-to-worker.”

....(snip)....

After differences are ironed out between chambers, the bill will go soon to Governor Gretchen Whitmer for a signature. The only way Republicans and right-wingers can destroy it is by amending the state constitution by ballot measure in 2024.

To do this, they will need more than 400,000 signatures on a petition. Judging by the way Republican gubernatorial candidates got scammed last year by collectors of fake signatures, it seems safe to say the Michigan Republicans are not likely to accomplish this. ...........(more)

https://www.metrotimes.com/news/lapointe-michigan-is-set-to-repeal-right-to-work-next-corrupt-unions-must-be-reformed-32618991