Tagged: right to work

Let's skip the lawsuits and go straight to the top

That's the idea behind Gov. Snyder's call for the Michigan Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the state's new right-to-work law.Rick Pluta explains where the legal challenges could come from:

One is whether exemptions in the law for police and firefighter unions violate the equal protection clause of the U-S Constitution. Another is whether the state Civil Service Commission has the autonomy under the Michigan Constitution to ignore the right-to-work law.

Opponents of the right-to-work legislation called the governor's move cynical, saying the legislation by-passed the normal committee process when it was written and now the Gov. is asking for it to by-pass the court system. The Supreme Court has a Republican majority of 4-2. It will likely be a 5-2 majority after Snyder appoints another Justice to fill a vacancy.

Ford made $5.67 billion in net income for 2012

It was a good year for the automaker. From the Detroit News:

It was in North America where Ford posted a 10.4 percent profit margin in 2012, and because of that success, 45,800 United Auto Workers hourly members will receive profit-sharing checks worth approximately $8,300, which will be paid in March.

Snow yesterday, rain today

Good conditions for flooding. From the National Weather Service:

An area of rainfall will accompany a warm front through southeast Michigan today... with another round of heavier rainfall expected to arrive tonight. This in combination with the melting snow and rapid runoff on frozen ground will allow area rivers and streams to rise and bring the potential for localized flooding of some low lying and poor drainage areas.

Governor Rick Snyder is not waiting on unions to challenge Michigan’s new right-to-work law in court.

Monday, he asked the Michigan Supreme Court to rule preemptively on some questions with the law.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan State Police spent an extra $900,000 on overtime and other expenses to have a large presence at the Capitol during demonstrations against a right-to-work law in December.

A state spokeswoman says nearly $803,000 was spent on overtime. Another $98,000 went toward travel, lodging and other expenses.

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

On March 27, Michigan will become the 24th state to adopt right-to-work legislation.

Roland Zullo of the Institute for Research on Labor, Employment and Economy at the University of Michigan and Vincent Vernuccio of The Mackinac Center for Public Policy spoke with Cyndy today about the legislation.

Michigan unions lost nearly 42,000 members over the course of 2012, representing about 10 percent of the nationwide decline in total membership.

The data come from a Bureau of Labor Statistics report that shows the percentage of American workers in unions dipped to its lowest rate in more than 70 years.

David Shepardson of The Detroit News has more:

Governor Rick Snyder made his pitch for higher taxes and fees to pay for roads in his third State of the State address.

He says Michigan needs at least a billion additional dollars in the coming year to pay for badly needed repairs to the state’s ailing infrastructure.  He may also need a plan to repair his strained relationships with Democrats to get what he wants.

I suppose if I were a Martian in Michigan this week, I’d be a bit baffled about what we think is news, and why.

Actually, forget the Martian part. Frankly, I can’t figure out the thinking of the mainstream media, and I’ve been part of it since the 1970’s. Today, for example, the Detroit papers are devoting a lot of space to the auto show, which I understand. They also seem very excited that the National Hockey League strike is over, which I sort of understand.

There is also a story about the latest rumor that Jimmy Hoffa is buried somewhere, which is entirely inappropriate. We are only supposed to have one of these a year. We already dug up someone’s driveway last summer, and whoever is spreading the latest yarn needs to wait till August.

There’s a story about two brothers who stole their father’s corpse, so they could resurrect him through prayer. And, a new investigation revealing that Natalie Wood, the actress who fell off a boat and drowned 32 years ago, actually fell off a boat and drowned. I am sure that’s been on the mind of a lot of unemployed Michiganders trying to make ends meet. However, there is evidence that some of us are thinking about real things.