Nonunion workers on collapsed roof
The jury is still out on why the roof collapsed on June 25 at the Capital Area Michigan Works office building.

But one thing is clear: nonunion carpenters were on the job when the building went up only four years ago. The site on South Cedar street was picketed by the Michigan Regional Carpenters Council in 2001 over the employment of carpenters being paid substandard wages.

"This is truly the product of cheap, untrained labor doing a project they shouldn't have been doing," Carpenters rep Tyler McCastle told the Lansing State Journal.

Weather did not appear to be a factor in the roof collapse. Hundreds of people work in the building, but no one was injured because it was closed at the time.

An attorney for the responsible contractor, the Eyde Co., told the Journal that it's not "a fair statement" to say that nonunion workers did poor work.

The cause of the collapse remains under investigation.

Better times for union busters?
Boo-hoo for union-busting law firms.

The Communication Workers of America report that law firms specializing in helping employers fight unions have been laying off employees in recent years because of declining unionization efforts. "Employers simply didn't need as many high-paid thugs to thwart organizing drives," the CWA said.

Now, the result of strife and realignments in the labor movement is expected to bring about a rebound in union organizing.

"No matter what happens, organizing will increase, and for employers I suspect it is going to be a fierce time," said Bill Adams, who runs a union-busting law firm, to the Chicago Tribune.