Commentary

Dec. 21, 2012

By Chriss Street

With the California unemployment still well above the national average, the Golden State might look to the Auto State for how to spur job growth.

Last week, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation to enact Michigan’s first right-to-work law for both private and public-sector workers, although public safety workers were exempted.

The law makes it illegal to require workers to either join a union or pay union dues without their permission.  The law was heralded by conservatives as protecting workers’ right of free association, but was scorned by liberals as destroying jobs at good wages.  But as a reward for Michigan’s new pro-jobs environment, General Motors announced it will bring back production of the iconic Chevrolet Camaro to the Michigan from Canada.

Snyder had served as the chairman of the board of Irvine, Calif. computer maker Gateway, Inc. and Ann Arbor-based Ardesta Venture Capital.

He ran for governor in 2010 on the motto, “I’m pro worker,” and has lived up to that. Since taking office in Jan. 2011, Michigan unemployment has dropped from 10.9 percent to 9.1 percent in Oct. 2012.

Heckled

In his first public appearance after signing the historic legislation, Snyder was heckled as the keynote speaker for Michigan State University’s commencement ceremonies last Saturday as he encouraged students, “We want Michigan to be attractive to you so you stay here.” Inundated by news organizations that had been hoping for some wild protests and counter-demonstrations, Snyder tried to avoid controversy by saying, “I’ve talked enough about public policy this week…my preference is always to talk to the graduates.” But he did recognize, “There are some people here that don’t agree with me today.”

Speaking about his own post-college experiences, Snyder said he chose an accounting job in Detroit over a higher-paying offer in Houston, because the company helped foster his career and allowed him to stay closer to his family and friends.

Union supporters and protesters sneered at Snyder’s noble words as hypocritical rhetoric. “We are here to show our appreciation for the MSU students,” said Bill Reed, president of UAW Local 602 in Lansing. “The trouble is, the governor has not shown that same appreciation. This legislation harms these students’ future.”

The Camaro decision represents at least 1,000 union jobs and comes as a big win for Michigan’s hard-hit auto sector over foreign competition.  It seems that, after the GM bankruptcy, higher productivity at plants in the United States is reducing GM’s capital investment costs and improving profitability.

Kristin Dziczek, the director of labor and industry at the Center for Automotive Research, said labor costs for new hires in Michigan are now lower than the wage costs for veteran unionized peers in Canada. “There’s a considerable number of entry-level people and a lot of the older workers have already retired or taken retirement incentives,” she said.  Dziczek added that that the relatively strong Canadian currency, known as the loonie, is dragging down the Canadian manufacturing sector versus American competition.

Ontario plant

In an interesting twist of fate, the Michigan job gains will be taken from GM’s Ontario plant that was the scene of one of the most vicious strikes in labor history.  From April 8-23 1937, more than 4,000 workers struck for better wages, working conditions, a seniority system and the recognition of their new United Automobile Workers union.

The UAW was to be an affiliate of the recently created Congress of Industrial Organization that was organizing industrial workers throughout the United States.  Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn vigorously supported GM management’s efforts to try to keep the CIO out of Ontario.  To break the strike, Hepburn even created his own police force, known as “Hepburn’s Hussars” and “Sons-of-Mitches.”

Fellow unionists, neighbors and communist activists funded the GM Canada striking workers for two weeks. Eventually GM capitulated over fears of losing markets to its competitors.  In the April 23, 1937 agreement, GM accepted many of the union’s demands, without recognizing the union.  To gain recognition, the union leadership publicly repudiated the CIO connection.  But everyone knew it was a great CIO victory and the first major one in Canada.  The strike marked the birth of industrial unionism in Canada.

Michigan was hammered with a “D” rating in the 2009 Index of Worker Freedom, while Snyder’s predecessor, Democrat Jennifer Granholm, still was governor.

But the success in attracting the Camaro back after passing right-to-work legislation is motivating the Republican-controlled Legislature to adopt more pro-business legislation:

* HB 5024 would increase penalties for violation of Michigan’s mass picketing statute and allow employers to seek legal means to stop mass picketing;

* HB 5023 would increase penalties for illegal public-sector strikes;

* HB 5026 would allow employers to more easily hire new workers during labor union disputes.

With more GM jobs on the way, Snyder is proving that passing right-to-work laws is great for workers. It’s a lesson California should drive to prosperity.

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]]> https://calwatchdog.com/2012/12/21/ca-should-emulate-mi-jobs-creation/feed/ 11 35805 https://calwatchdog.com/2012/12/12/audacity-mich-shows-calif-gop-how-to-revive-party/ https://calwatchdog.com/2012/12/12/audacity-mich-shows-calif-gop-how-to-revive-party/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:13:57 +0000 http://www.calwatchdog.com/?p=35505 Dec. 12, 2012

By John Seiler

When I was growing up in Michigan in the 1960s, the Democratic Party mostly dominated the state. Kennedy, Johnson and Humphrey won the presidential contests. Democrats controlled the Legislature. And labor unions dominated the Democratic Party. Much like in California today.

One difference was that Michigan’s governors were Republicans, but they were liberal Republicans in the Schwarzenegger mold. In particular, Gov. George Romney, Mitt’s father, imposed the first state income tax and more than doubled the state budget in just six years in office. He was a Democrat in all but name.

But in the 2010s, Michigan’s Republican Party is resurgent — and offers lessons to California’s down-and-out GOP. L.A. Times columnist George Skelton and many others have suggested that the CA GOP would do better if it just became a lot more like the California Democratic Party.

The Michigan experience suggests the opposite. Two years ago, the state was a mess after eight years of Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Canadian born but raised from childhood in California’s Bay Area. Like Schwarzenegger, she also had a career in Hollylwood acting, although hers was brief. She now is teaching at U.C. Berkeley, so California taxpayers are paying for her pay, perks and pension as she teaches impressionable young minds how to misgovern.

Instead of trying to imitate Granholm and other Michigan Democrats, Michigan Republicans did the opposite: They strongly backed major budget reforms and tax cuts. They were rewarded with victory. The party now has large majorities in both houses of the Michigan Legislature. And Rick Synder is the popular, and mostly conservative, governor.

This has occurred even though the state remains mainly Democratic and voted for Barack Obama for president. The last time Michigan backed a Republican for the Oval Office was way back in 1988, the same as California.

A big reason for Republican success is that voters trust them to deal with the state’s financial messes, including effectively bankrupt Detroit. It’s not exactly clear what will happen, but actually dissolving the Motor City is one option.

In a similar fashion, former Mayor Richard Riordan has warned that Los Angeles is headed for bankruptcy.

Taking on the unions

A key part of the Republican resurgence in Michigan is taking on the unions. The Great Lake State was the cradle of the union movement a century ago. But now it has become a liability, with unions impeding reforms — the same as in California.

In the November election, the unions placed on the ballot Proposal 2, called by the unions the “Save Our Jobs” initiative. It would have given unions almost total authority over the state. Critics charged that it even would have protected unionized public-school teachers that were drunk or dealing drugs in the classroom. (That’s close to how California’s unions succeeded in defeating in our Legislature SB 1530, by state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles. It would have made it easier to get rid of teachers that use sex, drugs or violence against students.)

For Michigan’s union-backed Proposal 2, according to Ballotpedia, the unions massively outspent opponents by 22-to-1.

But Proposal 2 lost anyway, 57 percent to 43 percent.

Aggressive GOP

In the past, Republicans would have sighed in relief and gone back to their country clubs. (That’s certainly what Republicans did in California in the mid-1990s during their brief period of ascendance in the state Legislature.)

Not this time. As you may have heard, the Michigan Legislature just passed right-to-work laws, which Snyder signed into law. Payback time.

The reforms guarantee workers the right to join a union — or not join a union. The unions have boiled over with hatred. For them, “freedom” means forcing others to join their union. Here’s a typical response (note: bad language in the YouTube):

But here’s what it really means. An old journalistic comrade of mine, Patrick McGuigan of Oklahoma, described what happened when his state passed similar legislation:

“Congratulations, Michigan.

“In 2001, after decades of debate and a multi-million dollar campaign, voters in Oklahoma approved a ballot question enshrining the right to work in the state Constitution.

“Today, Oklahoma City has the lowest unemployment rate of any large American city. The state has outperformed much of the nation even during the depths of the Great Recession, and is projected to become one of the top states for job creation in the first quarter of 2013. Per capita personal income growth is outpacing the nation.

“Ultimately, the same results will come to Michigan.

“Monday, President Obama said the fight over Michigan’s right-to-work proposal is about politics and ideology, not economics.

“Politics is indeed part of the equation in any major policy shift in any American state — and that was certainly the case in Oklahoma in 2001, and in Indiana last year.

“But in the end, the proof is in the pudding: Oklahoma is evolving from its longstanding status as a poor, bottom-tier state into a steadily growing economy with a bright future — and that’s all about economics. Still, the strongest arguments for right to work are moral, rooted in rights of voluntary association and personal liberty.”

Audacity!

California desperately needs political competition. A one-party state never turns out well, whether in California or Cuba.

If Republicans want to get back in the ring and compete in California, the wrong strategy would be to mirror the Democrats.

Instead, they should look to the feisty Michigan GOP. They should take direct aim at the powerful unions. Make it a David vs. Goliath contest.

For starters, how about a right-to-work initiative on the ballot in 2014? Make sure it’s not a compromised initiative, like Proposition 32 was this year. The California unions ran ads attacking the loopholes for “special interests.”

Instead, get the ballot language from Oklahoma’s initiative, Question 695, which now is Section 23, Article 1A of the Oklahoma Constitution (text below). Make the new initiative about the unions themselves. Make it about union power. Because then the very exercise of that power — spending tens of millions of dollars in attack ads — itself is turned against the unions.

And every Republican in the state should make the right-to-work initiative the center of his campaign. No Democrat would dare buck the unions and back it. So it would be a clear contrast.

That also would help win Latino voters to the GOP. Because even many Democrats, such as former state Sen. Gloria Romero, are sick of how the the teachers’ unions care less about Latino students’ poor performance than about maintaining spiked pensions for teachers who aren’t even teaching any more.

When California state finances fall off a cliff, as they soon will, voters will look for the culprits. And as in Michigan, those culprits will be obvious: The Democratic Party and its union string-pullers.

For California Republicans, the key to victory is the same as when Danton exclaimed to the French Assembly in 1792: “Audacity! Audacity! Always audacity!”

————————

Here’s the language of Article 23, Section 1A of the Oklahoma Constitution:

SECTION XXIII-1A.

Right to work.

A.  As used in this section, “labor organization” means any organization of any kind, or agency or employee representation committee or union, that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning wages, rates of pay, hours of work, other conditions of employment, or other forms of compensation.

B.  No person shall be required, as a condition of employment or continuation of employment, to:

1.  Resign or refrain from voluntary membership in, voluntary affiliation with, or voluntary financial support of a labor organization;

2.  Become or remain a member of a labor organization;

3.  Pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of any kind or amount to a labor organization;

4.  Pay to any charity or other third party, in lieu of such payments, any amount equivalent to or pro rata portion of dues, fees, assessments, or other charges regularly required of members of a labor organization; or

5.  Be recommended, approved, referred, or cleared by or through a labor organization.

C.  It shall be unlawful to deduct from the wages, earnings, or compensation of an employee any union dues, fees, assessments, or other charges to be held for, transferred to, or paid over to a labor organization unless the employee has first authorized such deduction.

D.  The provisions of this section shall apply to all employment contracts entered into after the effective date of this section and shall apply to any renewal or extension of any existing contract.

E.  Any person who directly or indirectly violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Added by State Question No. 695, Legislative Referendum No. 322, adopted at Special Election held on Sept. 25, 2001.

Michigan has been mired in a Depression a lot longer than California. But late last year its unemployment rate, long the worst in the nation, dropped to third-worst. California moved up to second-worst, behind Nevada.

Michigan and California both have new governors replacing highly unpopular governors who ran up deficits. In Michigan’s case, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder (pictured at right) replaced Democrat Jennifer Granholm. In California’s case, of course, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown replaced Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Why is Michigan improving, but California isn’t? I think it’s because, during last fall’s election, businesses could look into the future. Snyder had an easy win and Michiganders thought he was serious about his pro-business reforms to create jobs. By contrast, Jerry Brown, who also had an easy win, was seen as a tool of the government-employee unions who paid for much of his campaign, and wouldn’t rock the status quo that has made California the most anti-business, anti-taxpayer state in the country.

After the election, that has been borne out. Brown is pushing a $12 billion tax hike, instead of serious pension and other reform.

Snyder, reports today’s Detroit News, is working to create jobs:

As other Midwest states face shortfalls in their upcoming budgets, Gov. Rick Snyder is charting an unusual path by slashing business taxes as a primary solution.

Snyder’s plan employs deep cuts to education and localities, like that of Wisconsin’s governor, but he’s distinct in proposing a generous tax break for businesses in hopes of spurring economic growth while increasing the tax burden on seniors’ pensions and low-income families.

Well, I don’t like increasing taxes on anybody. Basically he’s ending exemptions for public pensions, including Social Security. He should have just skipped that part.

Michigan’s top income tax rate, 4.25 percent, still will be less than half California’s top rate of 10.55 percent (under the Brown proposal). And it’ll even be less than half the second-highest California rate, 9.55 percent, which hits the middle class and kicks in at around $50,000 income.

Michigan has nothing like California’s jobs-slaughtering AB 32. And with the median price of a home well less than $100,000 even in some of the nicest neighborhoods, Michigan is set to take off.

Of course, the auto industry will tank again if gas prices keep soaring. Detroit remains an rusted-out hulk of a once-great city. And then there are those winters.

But at least Michigan is hitting the accelerator on economic growth. Gov. Brown has thrown California into reverse.

March 7, 2011

Michigan improved from 12.8% the month earlier. And with a new Republican governor, Rick Snyder, focusing on growth, it probably will drop below California’s rate. Snyder’s Web site says:

Government continues to function as it has in the past and taxpayers are feeling the squeeze. They’re not convinced they’re receiving real value for their money. State government remains bloated, inefficient and resistant to meaningful reform. Effective customer service to citizens is the exception, not the rule.

Sound like anything you’re hearing from Jerry Brown? Here’s what I found on Jerry’s Web site:

California is the preeminent leader in environmental and energy technology because early on we adopted policies and incentives that encouraged efficiency and renewable energy. Today, our state has a visionary plan that will not only combat global warming, but will also reduce foreign energy dependence and unhealthy air emissions. It is absolutely imperative that we continue to lead and not back off these policies that will create the jobs of the future.

He’s obsessed with imposing the jobs-killing AB 32 on the state.

And it figures, of course, that California’s Republicans would not be forward-looking jobs creators like Snyder, but AB 32 Luddites like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Meg Whitman.

Maybe I’ll move back to my home state, Michigan.

But I’ll wait until the spring.

Dec. 19, 2010