Workers at Mt. Clemens tooling company are on the way to decertifying the UAW

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.