LANSING – Calling it an “important day in Michigan” to assure “workplace fairness and equality,” Governor Rick Snyder said Thursday he was endorsing legislation to enact a right-to-work law in the state affecting all private and public workers, except for police and firefighters, as the best course for the state both in terms of worker fairness and to promote economic development.
He called on the Legislature to move legislation promptly and efficiently, which it did, and said he would sign it when it landed on his desk.
“We’ve had a lot of good discussions on this topic, a lot of healthy discussions, and I think this is what’s best for Michigan,” Snyder said.
While prior to this time right-to-work had not been on his list of issues to consider, Snyder said whether he wanted it to or not, the issue had come forward. As a leader, he said, he had to consider it and “stand up and take a position on this issue.”
That decision was to encourage lawmakers to make Michigan the 24th right-to-work state in the nation.
Flanked by union members who favor right-to-work legislation and House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), a serious Mr. Snyder said his decision was driven by several factors, but among those was the attitude of business and what happened earlier this year in Indiana.
Indiana became the 23rd state to adopt right-to-work legislation earlier this year, and that has caused competitive pressures for the state, Snyder said.
In meeting with companies about locating in Michigan, a number of firms said the state would not even be considered unless it was a right-to-work state, he said. But Snyder would not identify the firms.
Asked if any of the firms he had spoken with had said they would locate in Michigan if it adopted such laws, Snyder said the firms had said Michigan wouldn’t be considered without a right-to-work provision.
The announcement came less than 48 hours after Snyder said right- to-work was now on his agenda after saying throughout the year that it would be too divisive to consider. He met in the Romney Building with reporters (and Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) who attempted to ask a question of Snyder), who had to walk through a crowd of protesters outside and in the lobby of the building and close to a dozen State Police troopers.
It was somewhat ironic that while hundreds of people opposed the legislation arguing that it was an attack on their rights and could lead to lower incomes and a poorer state overall, Snyder said the legislation he was supporting was pro-worker.
In fact, Snyder and the legislative leaders refused to refer to the legislation as enacting a right-to-work provision, saying instead it created a “freedom to work.”
“I do not view this as something against the unions,” Snyder said. “I support the unions and their right to organize. I continue to be an advocate for collective bargaining in the state of Michigan.” The legislation would have no effect on those rights, he said.
Snyder said the legislation would encourage the unions to be even better for their members. Since workers would now have the ability to decide whether they wished to join a union or not, unions will have to make the best case possible to attract new members, he said.
“Unions, historically, have done many good things in Michigan, and I would encourage them to make the best possible case as to why someone would choose” the union, he said.
Bolger said the legislation is not about a right-to-work but worker fairness.
And Richardville, who has a union background and has been more supportive of unions, said that if he could, he would join a union, but he also understood the value of the freedom to choose.
Snyder also said moving the legislation would be critical toward creating a healthy Michigan. There “is a perception that has become a reality,” Snyder said, that many companies will not look at states that do not have right-to-work laws.
“They essentially kick us off the list of opportunities” for development, Snyder said. And in talking to site selectors, those executives said 25 percent of the companies they talked to would not consider states without right-to-work.
Prior to this period, Snyder said one reason he had not looked at the issue was that it had no significance for most workers. Fewer than 20 percent of the workers in the state were unionized, he said.
And there were higher priorities to help bring companies to the state, especially taxes.
Finally, the action by Indiana earlier this year to adopt a right-to-work helped forced the issue here. Replacing the Michigan Business Tax with the corporate income tax helped make the state more competitive against Indiana, Snyder said, but when it adopted its right-to-work law (and Snyder said he admired outgoing Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels), it made the Hoosier state more competitive against Michigan.
Snyder acknowledged the issue was divisive. But ultimately, he insisted, the issue was about “more and better jobs” in the state.
While Michigan has seen improvements over the last several years, it still has a long way to go to recapture the jobs lost during the first decade of the century, and with proposals such as this to promote worker fairness and to encourage development the state could go a long way towards recovering those lost jobs, Snyder said.
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