Workers at a hydraulic tooling company in Mt. Clemens are one step closer to decertifying their union after submitting enough signatures to the National Labor Relations Board to trigger a vote on representation.

Hydra-Lock Corp. employees are getting representation from the National Right to Work Foundation in their effort to oust United Auto Workers Local 155. Keith Woody and other employees signed a petition in favor of a decertification vote, the foundation said in a press release. A decertification vote is triggered if 30% of workers sign a petition to request one.

Most workers at the factory believe the union does little for them, Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation, wrote in an email to Michigan Capitol Confidential. “Yet without right-to-work, union bosses are empowered to have these employees fired if they refuse to pay for the union’s so-called ‘representation’ that they oppose.”

Semmens pointed to the UAW’s history of corruption, which he said “has only continued with current top boss Shawn Fain.”

Union membership and financial support should be voluntary, Semmens said, pointing to an increased number of requests for help his organization has received from workers in Michigan.

“Underhanded union boss tactics combined with federal law makes it exceptionally difficult for workers to get and hold decertification votes,” Semmens said.

Michigan taxpayers gave $2 million to Mammoth Distillery to help the company create a new whiskey recipe. The business will purchase and redevelop Pugsley Correctional Facility, which was permanently closed in 2016.

The 2025 state budget conference report (p. 115) said the money will go toward “the redevelopment of a former corrections facility in Grand Traverse County into an agricultural tourism hub.”

Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, whose district includes the company’s address, told CapCon told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email that she did not request the funds. The budget does not indicate which legislator made the request.

Crain’s Grand Rapids Business in July identified Mammoth Distillery, owned by Chad Munger, as the recipient of the $2 million state grant. Munger, it said, is working with farmers to grow Rosen Rye, a cultivar that was once grown in Michigan.

Munger did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Farmers stopped growing Rosen Rye around 1950. Mammoth Distillery provides a timeline of the crop’s history in Michigan on its website. Trevor Tkach, president of Traverse City Tourism, told Crain’s that agritourism is crucial to the area.

There are approximately 50 wineries in the region, according to Traverse City Tourism. This number does not include distilleries, breweries, and cideries.

The company plans to purchase the long-closed Pugsley Correctional Facility and develop the property, which is currently owned by the Grand Traverse Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians.

Munger expected to close on the purchase by Sept. 15, Crain’s reported. Munger did not respond to an email seeking comment. The Grand Traverse Band did not respond to an email inquiry about the possible sale. Grand Traverse County responded to a Freedom of Information Act request by saying it had no information on Mammoth Distillery.

Mammoth Distillery was also awarded $62,572 in June by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The company would use the money ”for blending and packaging equipment to increase its processing and production capacity,” according to a state press release.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer mentioned Mammoth Distillery in a COVID-era press release. In it, she said the company had shifted its operations to manufacture and distribute hand sanitizer to health care professionals.