LANSING — As Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer observes Labor Day more than two-thirds through her second and final term, leaders of a state employee union say they are unhappy she hasn't enlisted their help in trying to fulfill her 2018 pledge to "fix the damn roads."

Officials in the union representing Michigan Department of Transportation technicians and inspectors say their numbers in state government have continued to shrink under Whitmer, while work farmed out to private contractors has grown. They say it's a costly trend that threatens public oversight of quality control and is one that other states have taken steps to reverse.

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