The historical role of May Day was to provide an eight-hour workday and extend Workplace Rights to hardworking men and women across the nation. Michigan's workforce benefits from the right to organize, bargain collectively and advocate for better protections, leveraging their knowledge to create equity amidst a growing Michigan economy.
Serving the residents of Michigan is of utmost importance and aligns with LEO's mission and purpose. The Workplace Rights resources showcases the state's commitment to the Labor movement and establishes Michigan as a place for economic growth and prosperity for all. These resources will help working people better understand their rights and feel empowered to fight for their protection.
Guide to Public Sector Labor Relations Law in Michigan
How to File an Unfair Labor Practice
Search Michigan Employment Relations Commission Decisions
Contact Bureau of Employment Relations Detroit Office at 313-456-3510 or Bureau of Employment Relations Lansing Office at 517-335-9142.
Contact the Wage and Hour Division at 517-284-7800 or whinfo@michigan.gov.
Contact Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration at 517-284-7777.
Contact Workers' Disability Compensation Agency at 888-396-5041 or wcinfo@michigan.gov.
Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination – and it’s illegal.
What to do if you’ve experienced discrimination
Contact Michigan Department of Civil Rights at 800-482-3604 or MDCR-INFO@michigan.gov.
200,000 U.S. workmen engineered a nationwide strike for an 8-hour day. The historical role of May Day was to extend Workplace Rights to hardworking men and women across the nation. Michigan's workforce benefits from the right to organize, bargain collectively and advocate for better protections, leveraging their knowledge to create equity amidst a growing Michigan economy.
Unemployed workers gathered at several locations in metro Detroit on March 7, 1932 and marched to the Ford River Rouge plant in Dearborn to seek jobs and relief. Ford security guards fired bullets into the crowd, killing four workers that day and wounding a fifth, who died later.;
Over 100 women as young as 16 years old locked the doors of this popular downtown five-and-ten store on a busy Saturday shopping day in February 1937. They occupied the store for six days, winning raises and shorter hours.
A historical marker at City Hall Plaza commemorates the Lansing Labor Holiday, a citywide general strike that shut down much of the city's factories and businesses on June 7, 1937. Workers took over downtown streets to protest strong-arm tactics by police against strikers at Capital City Wrecking Co., one of many shops newly organized by the United Automobile Workers. Capital City eventually negotiated a contract with its workers.
Dorothy Haener is a founding member of the National Organization for women, the Women's Equity Action League, the Michigan Democratic Caucus, and the Coalition of Labor Union Women. She was also a founder and co-chair of Michigan ERAmerica and co-chair of the Michigan Task Force on Sexual Harassment in the workplace. She is a nationally recognized expert on working women, having published numerous articles, given testimony at state and federal levels, served on Presidential Task Forces and Commissions, and spoken at national and international women's conferences in her continuing effort to achieve equality in the workplace.
She was the first director of the Women's Department of the United Automobile Workers International Union and embodies the spirit and the energy of the labor movement, coupled with a strong tradition of community service. As a prominent spokesperson for women and workers, she has been honored with numerous awards and distinctions.
Commonly connected to Rose Will Monroe, an employee of the World War II Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti Township, Rosie the Riveter is an American icon created when the United States was desperate for women to join the war effort. She inspired a generation of women to enter the industrial workforce at a time when they were desperately needed. She succeeded, but more importantly, all women succeeded.
