One nation under God

Liberty and Justice for All

2007-09-30

Government Shutdown Looms in Michigan

Governor Granholm, claiming the Michigan Legislature has not acted on her budget in seven months, is left with little choice but to impose cutbacks, with an executive directive this past Thursday to members of the Cabinet who manage the departments of state government, instructing them to begin taking the steps necessary to shut down all non-essential state government operations at midnight this Sunday, September 30, when the new fiscal year begins, unless an agreement can be reached. 35,000 state workers have been told not to report to work on Monday and the rush was on to renew licenses and buy booze by Michigan residents.

The state budget is in crisis and without a balanced budget in place, the Constitution prohibits state government operations and while negotiations are underway with the state Legislature for a solution, state workers are being placed on a temporary layoff. If an agreement cannot be reached, there will be massive cuts to public safety, health care, and education - including, but not limited to - courts, civil rights, lottery and gaming, community health, corrections, education, Secretary of State, and the Treasury.

It's reported that lawmakers and Granholm are struggling to close a $1.75 billion gap in the state budget.

What does this mean to Michiganders? You guessed it - increased income taxes and sales tax - in addition to reforming public employee health coverage, and... state government reforms. (We'll wait and see on the latter.)  

In a state already economically depressed, with an exorbitant cigarette tax and already high sales tax, this news does not bode well from a government who endorses MSG-laden fast food and pharmaceuticals, while discriminating on smokers' drug of choice - in the guise of public health concerns - yet knowing the nation's #1 health danger is obesity.   

And I guess this explains the 6 month delay on 2006 income tax refunds... Will Granholm and the Legislature please speed up this agreement so my hubby can FINALLY get his refund? Seems we'll need it to pay the tax hikes.

Gina Weiss

2007-09-03

The state of Labor Unions on Labor Day 2007

There's no doubt the roots of our country's trade unions extend deep into the early history of America. As early as 1620, several Pilgrims who had arrived at Plymouth Rock were working craftsmen. The Labor Day holiday was established in America in 1894, officially signed into law by President Grover Cleveland.

Many of us know the history of the Labor Union Movement - how strikes became an effective tool to campaign for higher wages and job security in the 1930s where many of the federal worker-protection laws were born, and the merger of the AFL-CIO in 1955. The first Labor Day observance held in Detroit attracted 50,000 members and observers in 1884.

In recent years, however, there has been a steady decline in both union membership and influence. Federal statistics claim that only 12 percent of U.S. workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements and while some managers and workers prefer the freer market system where persons are hired and paid on individual merit, the idea itself is still present in many workers' minds - and this a holiday that symbolizes their hopes.

As this Labor Day Holiday approaches, I realized that I knew little about the Labor Unions of today, in 2007. In my quest for the current state of unions, I found the AFL-CIO still very active in political initiatives and that programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Head Start would not have been possible without the strong support of the labor movement. Economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) reminds us that the decline of unions has been a key factor in this nation’s worsening inequality.

Is this the state of Labor Unions on Labor Day 2007?

Is America at war against the labor movement?

Have we, as a nation, traded off lower-priced goods and services in place of a unionized work force with the bargaining clout to get higher wages - good deals on consumption but lousy paychecks?

Gina Weiss

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