(June 27, 2024)

The Huron Valley Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO believes deeply in free speech and peaceful, non-violent protest – tools that have been used to broaden democracy for all workers, including workers of color and women in this country.  Non-violent protest has sometimes included civil disobedience – refusal to obey unjust laws – such as historical struggles against segregation laws in the United States.   

But there is an important difference between breaking an unjust law using non-violent tactics and showing up in masks at private residences in the middle of the night, or vandalizing workplaces.  The latter actions, taken against UM Regents, are attempts to intimidate and bully.  They do not belong in the repertoire of the labor movement.    

We also want to publicly acknowledge that the Democratic Regents of the University of Michigan (Kathy White, Denise Ilitch, Mark Bernstein, Mike Behm, Jordan Acker, and Paul Brown) have demonstrated strong support for workers’ right to join unions and bargain collectively over many years. These six Regents have consistently supported the use of union labor at the University of Michigan.  And when persuaded that U-M employees were not being paid fairly, they have insisted that University budgets allocate additional funds to the compensation of such employees.  

As well, the six Democratic Regents, led by Regent Bernstein, passed a new neutrality and majority recognition policy that made it relatively simple for workers willing to do the hard organizing work to form new unions or join existing ones. And they have weighed in to ensure that UM employees were not prevented from forming unions by unreasonable bargaining unit definitions, a tactic often used by anti-union employers. Almost 8,000 U-M workers have joined unions since the adoption of the new policy.

We invite all of our labor movement sisters and brothers, our community allies, and all people of conscience to join us in publicly condemning the types of intimidation and bullying tactics directed against the Regents of the University of Michigan.