(MICHIGAN) - In the Pre-Dawn Twilight of December 4th, 2012, Randy Richardville - the Republican Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate, Called an Old Friend to Deliver Some Grim News.

Richardville's Two-Hour Commute to the State Capitol in Lansing Gave Him Plenty of Time to Check in With Friends, Staff and Colleagues, Who Were Accustomed to His Early Morning Calls - None More So Than Mike Jackson.  Jackson and Richardville Had Grown Up in the Auto Town of Monroe, 40 Miles South of Detroit.  Jackson Now Headed Michigan's 14,000-Member Carpenters and Millwrights' Union, Which Had Endorsed Richardville, a Moderate Republican, for 10 of the 12 Years He'd Served in the State Legislature.

"Guess Where I Was Last Night?," Richardville Asked.

Jackson Wasn't in a Guessing Mood - and It Wasn't Just the Early Hour.

Since the Election, Republicans Had Been Aiming to Use the Current Lame-Duck Session to Ram Through a Controversial Piece of Legislation Known as Right-To-Work (For Less).  Such Laws, Already on the Books in 23 States, Outlawed Contracts Requiring All Employees in a Unionized Workplace to Pay Dues for Union Representation.  Jackson and Other Labor Leaders Were Scrambling to Head Off the Bill, Widely Regarded as a Disaster For Unions.  Richardville, Who’d Once Told a Hotel Conference Room Filled With Union Members that Right-To-Work Would Pass "Over My Dead Body," Was One of the Votes They'd Counted On.

Richardville Said He'd Spent the Previous Evening at a Fundraiser in Western Michigan.  At One Point During the Event, He Was Escorted Into a Private Room Where a Dozen Wealthy Business Moguls Were Waiting for Him - Some He Recognized as Heavy Hitters in Michigan Politics, Others Had Flown In From Out of State.

One Of The Men In The Room Glared At Richardville.  "You Gotta Grow ‘a Set’ and Move This Legislation," the Man said, Referring to Right-To-Work.  Had He Ever Run For Office?, Richardville Asked.  The Man said “No.”  "Well, When You Grow ‘a Set’ and Give that a Try," Richardville Snapped, "Then You Can Talk About the Size of My Testicles."

Jackson Was Wide Awake Now.  "Good for You," He said. "How'd It End?"  "Mike, You're F****d," Richardville said. "They've Got All the Money They Need.  They're Going Up on the Air and They're Going to Push This ‘Freedom-To-Work’ Thing."  Wasn't There Some Way to Head Off the Bill?,” Jackson Asked. "They've Got My Caucus," Richardville Replied. "You Can't Imagine the Pressure I'm Under."

Devos Has Given a Road Map to Conservatives Working to Bring Down Labor and Defund the Left - and His Reforms Could Help Put the State in the GOP's Column Come 2016.

The Pressure Came Largely From One Man Present at that Fundraiser: Richard "Dick" Devos Jr.  The 58-Year-Old Scion of the Amway Corporation, Devos Had Arm-Twisted Richardville Repeatedly to Support Right-To-Work.  After Six Years of Biding Their Time, Devos and His Allies Believed the 2012 Lame Duck was the Time to Strike.  They’d Formulated a Single, All-Encompassing Strategy: They Had a Fusillade of TV, Radio and Internet Ads in the Works; They'd Crafted 15 Pages of Talking Points to Circulate to Republican Lawmakers; and They Had Even Reserved the Lawn Around the State Capitol for a Month to Keep Protesters at Bay.

A Week After Richardville's Early Morning Call to Jackson, it Was All Over.

With a Stroke of His Pen on December 11th, Republican Governor Rick Snyder - Who'd Previously said Right-To-Work Was Not a Priority of His - Now Made Michigan the 24th State to Enact it.

The Governor Marked the Occasion by Reciting, Nearly Verbatim, Talking Points that Devos and His Allies had Distributed.

"Freedom-To-Work," he said, is "Pro-Worker and Pro-Michigan."

You Can Read the Rest of This Report on the Devos At: www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/devos-michigan-labor-politics-gop