Tagged: UAW

Teachers challenge retirement bills

"The first day of classes was also the day Governor Rick Snyder approved some big changes to how teachers and other public school employees will save for retirement. The new law will require teachers to pay more for retirement benefits. New employees will no longer get retirement health care coverage, but a savings account to help them buy insurance. Teachers unions are already in court to challenge the law.  A judge in Ingham County struck down part of the law within a few hours of the governor signing it. Judge Rosemary Aquilina said retired teachers deserve more time to choose whether they will pay more for their existing benefits, or choose reduced benefits. The new law gave them a month and a half to make their decision," Rick Pluta reports.

Special primary election today in southeast Michigan

"Five Detroit-area Republican candidates are competing for the chance to serve the final weeks of former U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter's term in Congress. A special GOP primary election is being held Wednesday to pick a candidate to face Belleville Democrat David Curson in the Nov. 6 special general election. The winner of that race will serve only from mid-November until the end of the year. A separate contest on the Nov. 6 ballot will decide who fills the seat for the next two years. Republican ex-teacher Kerry Bentivolio faces Democratic Canton Township Trustee Syed Taj in that race. McCotter resigned this summer during an investigation of irregularities in the nominating petitions that kept the Livonia Republican from seeking re-election. Three former aides are charged with scheming to submit false signatures," according to the AP.

UAW president to address the DNC tonight

"United Auto Workers says union President Bob King is scheduled to address the Democratic National Convention. The Detroit-based union says King will speak this evening during the event in Charlotte, N.C. The UAW says 89 of its members are delegates to the convention," according to the AP.
 

In mid-September, General Motors will temporarily close the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that makes the Chevrolet Volt for about a month.

The UAW remembered the 75th anniversary of the “Battle of the Overpass” Friday.

Many union members see the event as a pivotal point in Detroit--and national--labor history.

On May 26th, 1937, UAW President Walter Reuther and other union leaders were trying to organize workers at the massive Ford Rouge plant in Dearborn.

A confrontation ensued, and some union leaders were badly beaten by members of Henry Ford’s security team.

Bernie Ricke is President of UAW Local 600, which represents Ford Rouge workers today.

Protesters lined a busy thoroughfare in Troy Tuesday evening.

Attendees pulling into the parking lot at the San Marino Club for the Ronald Reagan Memorial Dinner were booed by the protesters, who were there to protest Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s appearance at the Oakland County Republican fundraiser.

Earlier this year, we told you about The 99% Spring, the protest movement sponsored by a variety of political and labor groups including MoveOn.org, the United Auto Workers and the Teamsters Union.

It’s part of a fresh wave of protests that are taking place across the country, in the wake of the Occupy movement.

Starting next week, 99% Spring events will be kicking off across the United States, and especially in the Midwest.

Supporters are vowing to train 100,000 people to “to tell the story of what happened to our economy, learn the history of non-violent direct action, and use that knowledge to take action on our own campaigns to win change.”

Over the weekend, the UAW sent an email to its members, encouraging them to take part.

“We are at a crucial point in America where if we continue to ignore the opportunity to rebuild this great country, then we risk losing the very essence of what has made this country great,” the email said. 

Some 918 events have been scheduled thus far. MoveOn.org, which is associated with the Democratic Party, has a locator for events, where you can put in your zip code and find those closest to you.

Here are the ones for the Detroit area, Chicago and Milwaukee, and Cleveland. To be sure, the 99% Spring movement hasn’t said what will happen once people are trained, but given the training events, it’s pretty clear it will meet its goal of training 100,000 people.

Are you planning to take part in 99% Spring? Let us know where and when.

United Auto Workers President Bob King says a coalition of unions will push for an amendment to the Michigan Constitution that bars so-called "right-to-work" legislation outlawing contracts that require employees to join unions.

Republicans who control the state Legislature have been pushing for a law that would ban labor agreements with mandatory union dues. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has said the issue is not a priority for his administration.

King told about 1,000 people at the UAW's national convention in Washington on Thursday that a union coalition will push for a November ballot issue protecting the right to have union shops.

The Detroit News reports King says unions agreed on the drive at a meeting Wednesday. He says they'll seek 500,000 signatures, about twice what's needed.

Publicus Tacitus, the Roman senator, is given credit for coining the phrase, “Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.”

He’d feel right at home during the Michigan Republican primary campaign.

Over the past few weeks, candidates, their opponents and those who played a role have been debating just who should get credit for the auto industry bailout.

It’s a long-overdue discussion of what happened a little over three years ago, and the conversation shows just what a political hot button the situation still is for people in Michigan and the Midwest. Here’s a list of credit takers and how they make their cases.