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Author    Post   untanglingwebs El Supremo Indiana experience offers little hope for Michigan ‘right-to-work’ law ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE By Gordon Lafer, Marty Wolfson, and Nancy Guyott | December 11, 2012 Policy Memorandum #199 Recently, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has pointed to Indiana’s economic success since passing “right to work” as a reason for Michigan to adopt similar legislation.1 Neither the governor nor Indiana officials, however, have been able to provide evidence that “right to work” (RTW) was the determinative factor in even a single company’s decision to locate in the state. A close examination of the law and of data provided by the Indiana Economic Development Commission (IEDC)—which served as the basis for Gov. Snyder’s comments—suggests that there is little reason to think RTW has significantly impacted job growth. It is too soon for the RTW law to have impacted corporate location decisions Indiana’s statute was signed on Feb. 1, 2012, and only applies to labor contracts signed after March 15, 2012. Yet the Indiana Economic Development Corporation began claiming that RTW had attracted jobs to the state on Feb. 29, 2012.2 On March 12, 2012, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels began declaring evidence of RTW’s success; on that date, the governor claimed there were 31 companies considering locating in Indiana due to RTW.3 However, the reality of business investment decisions is that picking a location for a major new investment is a lengthy process. For instance, Larry Gigerich of the Indianapolis-based site location consulting firm Ginovus, LLC—commonly cited by IEDC as an authoritative source on the topic—estimates that a typical business location decision takes 4–6 months, while decisions about larger investments take 9–12 months.4 It is simply too soon for the law to have affected many businesses’ location decisions. This is all the more true given the legal delays that have accompanied the law’s enactment. The rules for enforcing Indiana’s right-to-work statute were only published on Aug. 29, 2012, and became effective on Sept. 12, 2012.5 Furthermore, the law is currently being challenged in both state and federal courts. On Oct. 16, 2012, a circuit court judge denied the Daniels administration’s motion to quash the suit, ruling instead that “it cannot be categorically said at this time that IC 22-6-6 does not violate Article I §21 of the Indiana Constitution.”6 To the extent that businesses require certainty in order to make location decisions, they have not found it regarding right to work. Claims of RTW success story refuted by employer cited On March 12, 2012, Gov. Daniels identified the MBC Group as an employer that he said was creating jobs in Indiana because of RTW. MBC is not an out-of-state firm, but was founded in Indiana in 2009, and opened its Brookville location—the site of the expansion heralded by the governor’s claims—in 2011.7 The MBC Group promptly denied that RTW was the reason for its location decision. Indeed, the company’s president stated that he hadn’t noticed the reference to RTW in the press release and probably would have objected if he had. He also insisted that he had long planned to expand in Indiana; RTW “was not going to affect our decision one way or another,” he explained.8 The MBC story suggests that Indiana IEDC officials may be drafting news releases praising RTW and presenting them to corporations to sign after awarding them financial incentives. At the least, the company’s rebuttal of IEDC raises doubts about the commission’s broader claims. Companies claimed to be attracted by RTW were actually already located in Indiana At least four other companies that IEDC claims were motivated by RTW—all of whom received economic incentives from IEDC officials—have a long history in Indiana: Busche has been based in Indiana since its founding in 1997, with 14 facilities all in close proximity to one another. The company announced its decision to expand on March 22, 2012, after being offered $750,000 from IEDC to help create 120 jobs by 2015.9 Ironically, this company appears to have acquired its first non-Indiana production facility after the passage of RTW, in October 2012.10 Steel Dynamics is a longtime Indiana firm with facilities in 19 Indiana cities. In 2011, the company decided to build a new facility in Indiana, without RTW.11 For its 2012 expansion, IEDC promised the company $600,000 for creating 50 jobs. SealCorp USA is a longtime Evansville, Indiana, business. IEDC provided $340,000 in incentives in return for the company undertaking an expansion expected to create 35 jobs. Tellingly, the company’s own statement regarding the expansion decision mentions these economic incentives—but not RTW.12 Whayne Supply is another Evansville, Indiana, business that simply expanded its existing operation. Whayne is a distributor of Caterpillar mining equipment, and all the company’s facilities are located in either Indiana or Kentucky—a non-RTW state. Indiana’s coal mining has been growing dramatically, so expansion is not surprising. IEDC provided $450,000 in state funds in return for the company’s adding 50 new jobs. At the same time, the company is establishing two entirely new facilities not in Indiana, but in non-RTW Kentucky.13 That Indiana officials count each of these companies as firms whose facilities were drawn to the state because of RTW raises serious concerns regarding the reliability of IEDC claims as to the law’s impact. Not a single company says it came to Indiana because of RTW IEDC is a vocal advocate for RTW. Yet, while the agency reports that scores of companies have “communicated” that RTW “will factor into their decision-making process of where to locate,” the commission’s Legislative Update report does not identify a single company that says RTW made the difference in its decision to locate in Indiana. The commission offers quotes from a number of executives who praise RTW, but not a single one says it made the difference in their decisions.14 IEDC data show that the absence of RTW before 2012 did not keep companies away IEDC’s Legislative Update provides an analysis of all the companies since 2009 that Indiana officials courted but did not succeed in convincing to build in the state. Since the vast majority of these decisions took place prior to RTW, it is instructive to examine whether companies were avoiding Indiana due to its lack of RTW. According to IEDC, however, the vast majority of these companies either chose not to build anywhere, or preferred another state’s cash incentives or site infrastructure. Only 3 percent said their decision was related to labor availability or costs; there is no number at all reported for companies saying they stayed away because of RTW.15 Indiana continues to lose jobs to non-RTW states The extent to which RTW is discounted in business location decisions is apparent in the significant number of Indiana firms that—since the passage of RTW—continue to choose to invest in other, non-RTW states. A short sample of such decisions includes: Manitowic plans to close its Indiana facility and move the jobs to Cleveland, Ohio.16 Diamond Foods plans to close its Indiana facility and move the jobs to California.17 Whirlpool plans to move the jobs remaining in its Evansville, Indiana, facility to Benton Harbor, Michigan.18 Gunite (Accuride) closed its Indiana facility and moved the jobs to Illinois.19 2012 job growth is due to the economic recovery rather than RTW To the extent that Indiana has seen job growth, it likely reflects national trends rather than state statute. The number of companies recruited to the state has been increasing every year since the bottom of the recession in 2008. Indeed, IEDC reports that private-sector job creation by companies recruited to Indiana has been lower in 2012 than in 2010, before the law was adopted.20 —Marty Wolfson is an economist and director of the Higgins Labor Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame; Gordon Lafer is an EPI research associate and associate professor at the University of Oregon’s Labor Education and Research Center; Nancy Guyott is president of the Indiana AFL-CIO and former Commissioner of Labor of the State of Indiana. Endnotes 1. Quoted in John Flesher and Jeff Karoub, “Evidence elusive in Michigan right-to-work debate,” Associated Press, December 10, 2012. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hlyt3-ivY31DBEGjH38j6_RPtSCw?docId=f70bfb9790d949ac94eec1215900d04d 2. Indiana Economic Development Commission, news release, February 29, 2010. http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=52452 3. News release, “Daniels Points to MBC as Right-to-Work Product,” Eagle Country Online, March 12, 2012. http://www.eaglecountryonline.com/news.php?nID=3166 4. Larry Gigerich, “Fundamentals of the Location Decision Process,” Area Development, January 2012. http://www.areadevelopment.com/siteSelection/January2012/business-location-decision-process-fundamentals-7762522.shtml 5. The implementing rules were themselves a subject of heated debate. See Dan Carden, “Union leaders object to right-to-work rules,” Northwest Indiana Times, July 10, 2012. http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/union-leaders-object-to-right-to-work-rules/article_a2fa6e28-1830-5744-a5b6-0c30acf3873d.html 6. Judge George C. Paras, Lake Circuit Court, United Steel Workers v. Mitch Daniels et al, Order From Hearing of October 9, 2012, www.btlaw.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Misc%20Blog%20Attachments/Indiana%20RTW.pdf 7. http://www.mbcgroup.us/news/gov.asp 8. Tom LoBianco, “Firm denies right-to-work was reason for expansion,” Associated Press, April 19, 2012. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/business/11318629-420/company-denies-right-to-work-reason-for-expansion-reldate2012-03-15t191438.html 9. Busche company website. http://www.busche-cnc.com/whats-new/whats-new.php?t=2012&a=Albion%20Plant%20To%20Add%20Over%20100%20Jobs 10. Bob Braley, “Albion-based Busche acquires Alabama manufacturing complex,” Indiana Economic Digest, October 22, 2012. http://indianaeconomicdigest.com/Main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=70&ArticleID=67111 11. News release, “Steel Dynamics, Inc. and La Farga Group plan to build $39 million facility in Allen County,” Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, April 15, 2011. http://www.neindiana.com/news-media/rp-news/2011/04/15/steel-dynamics-inc-and-la-farga-group-plan-to-build-$39-million-facility-in-allen-county 12. http://www.sealcorpusa.com/News.html 13. Whayne Supply company website, http://www.whayne.com/locations/Pages/default.aspx. 14. Indiana Economic Development Commission, Legislative Update, powerpoint presentation, August 2012. 15. Indiana Economic Development Commission, Legislative Update, powerpoint presentation, August 2012. 16. Cheryl Slater, “City oven-maker to close, idle 200,” Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, September 8, 2012, http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120908/BIZ/309089968 17. News release, “Update-1: Diamond Foods to shut Indiana facility, cut 100 jobs,” Reuters, October 25, 2012, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/25/diamondfoods-restatement-idUSL3E8LP8I420121025 18. Susan Orr, “Evansville officials say Whirlpool closure announcement not big surprise,” Evansville Courier Press, August 6, 2012, http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/aug/06/whirlpool-says-it-will-close-product-development-f/ 19. News release, “N. Ind. auto parts plant closes weeks ahead of schedule, idling 125 Elkhart workers,”Associated Press, December 1, 2012. http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/ffe9012b19c34279a99c54a79c853c2f/IN–Elkhart-Parts-Factory 20. Indiana Economic Development Commission, Legislative Update, PowerPoint presentation, August 2012. Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:22 am; edited 2 times in total Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:44 pm  untanglingwebs El Supremo In interview after interview, Snyder touted the success of Indiana and their right-to-work law passed in February. However, the claims don't hold water and have been substantially discredited. I wonder what pipeline Snyder was looking into? Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:47 pm  untanglingwebs El Supremo Right-to work-laws implemented in Indiana by February 2012. Yet by August the Evansville Courier and Press reported that the Whirlpool corporation was moving their refrigeration division to the non-right-to work state of Michigan. The division consisted of primarily engineers and product development personnel. Whirlpool will spend $18.6 million to renovate a building in Benton harbor, where it already has other divisions. whirlpool hope the consolidation will improve efficiency. Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:02 pm  untanglingwebs El Supremo New Research Counters Arguments for “Right-To-Work” Laws Erin Johansson and Michael Wasser Updated January 2012 The 1947 passage of the Taft-Hartley amendments to the National Labor Relations Act allowed states to make it illegal for employers and unions to bargain agreements stipulating that all employees represented by a union had to pay dues. Without these agreements, unions are required to represent and negotiate on behalf of all the employees they represent, regardless of whether they choose to pay dues or not. Since 1947, twenty-two states have passed “right-to-work” (RTW) laws. RTW laws don’t generate jobs, economic growth Proponents of RTW laws claim that they enable a more business-friendly environment and lead to economic growth for states and their residents.1 Yet recent studies rebut claims of economic growth and instead find that laws suppress wages. In a 2011 report by the Economic Policy Institute, Gordon Lafer of the University of Oregon and Sylvia Allegretto of the University of California, Berkeley, examined changes in employment for states that adopted RTW laws, and found:2  RTW laws have not boosted employment growth for the states that adopted them.  After Oklahoma passed a RTW law in 2001, manufacturing employment and relocations into the state began to decline after a previous increase.  Unemployment in Oklahoma has more than doubled since the law was passed, and when compared to rates in Oklahoma’s neighboring states, there is no evidence that the RTW law boosted employment.  Despite predictions by the RTW law’s backers that eight to 10 times more companies from out of state would consider relocating to Oklahoma if the law was passed, the rate of new arrivals actually decreased following the passage of the RTW law .  When either large or small companies are choosing their business locations, the existence of a RTW law does not figure in a typical decision process.  Economic development officials do not prioritize or emphasize RTW when seeking to attract enterprise into states.  RTW laws could harm a state’s ability to grow by lowering tax revenues and restricting aggregate consumer demand. 1 Right to Work Frequently-Asked Questions. (2010). Retrieved August 25, 2010, from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. website, http://www.nrtw.org/en/b/rtw_faq.htm. Frequently Asked Questions. (n.d.) Retrieved August 25, 2010, from National Right to Work Committee website, http://www.nrtwc.org/about/frequently-asked-questions/. Johnson, R. et al. (2008). Is unionization the ticket to the middle class? The real economic effects of labor unions. Washington, DC: U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 2 Lafer, Gordon and Sylvia Allegretto. (2011). “Does Right-to-Work Create Jobs? Answers from Oklahoma,” Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. From their analysis, Lafer and Allegretto concluded, “As states look to attract and retain employers, and particularly to expand the opportunities for state residents to land middle-class jobs, the hard statistical evidence suggests that ‘right to work’ laws have no role to play in this revival.” The authors also concluded that RTW laws are largely incompatible with many states’ strategies of supporting “high-road” employers who are less susceptible to offshoring; these employers are “the least likely to be influenced by laws aimed at undermining union bargaining power.” The study also debunks the new claim of the National Right to Work Committee that employment in RTW states, on average, grew twice as fast as non-RTW states. Lafer and Allegretto found that by the end of 2010, both the highest and lowest unemployment rates were found in RTW states. They note that with such dramatic variation in job growth between states, a RTW law “accounts for little if anything in these trends.” As multiple reports note, jobs connected to manufacturing are leaving the country due to trade policies, not going to certain states based on their RTW status. In fact, since the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the RTW states of North Carolina and Mississippi have lost a higher percentage of manufacturing-related jobs than Michigan, a non-RTW state. 3Lonnie Stevans, Professor of Information Technology and Quantitative Methods at Hofstra University, has tested this claim by comparing the business formation and economic growth of RTW states with non-RTW states using recent data from the U.S. Small Business Administration.4 Stevans controlled for variables like education levels, population changes, and type of employment in the states to accurately measure the relationship between right-to-work laws and economic growth. Stevans found that a state’s RTW law:  Has no impact on economic growth  Has no influence on employment  Has no influence on business capital formation (the ratio of firm ‘births’ to the number of firms)  Is correlated with a decrease in wages Stevans also found that the average real state GDP growth rate of RTW states is not significantly different than non-RTW states. Based on his analysis, he observed, “…From a state’s economic standpoint, being right-to-work yields little or no gain in employment and real economic growth.” Scholars from the Higgins Labor Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame conducted a similar study, which debunked claims made by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder in a previous report issued by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce . 3 Lafer, Gordon. (2011). ‘Right to Work’: The Wrong Answer for Michigan’s Economy. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute; Vincent, Jeff. (2006). The 2006 Indiana Right to Work Campaign. Bloomington, IN: The Indiana University, Division of Labor Studies. 4 Stevans, L.K. (2009). The effect of endogenous right-to-work laws on business and economic conditions in the United States: A multivariate approach. Review of Law & Economics, 5(1), 595-612. Vedder claimed that passing RTW laws would raise per capita income of a family of four by over $3,800. However, the Notre Dame study, conducted by Professor Marty Wolfson, former Federal Reserve Board economist and current Director of the Higgins Program, and Associate Director Dan Graff, found that:  RTW laws have no meaningful positive impact in the growth of income in the states that adopt them.  Median household income is lower, on average, in RTW states and lower than the median household income of country as a whole.  18 of 22 states who have RTW laws have median household incomes below the national median.  Companies who seek lower wages are more likely to relocate to low-wage countries like India or China than to relocate to Indiana . 5 Prior research on RTW employment growth was inaccurate Charlene Kalenkoski and Donald Lacombe, professors in the Department of Economics at Ohio University, recently examined previous research claiming that RTW laws attract manufacturing employment to a state.6 Though prior studies have tried to measure the impact of RTW on employment, they failed to account for geographic characteristics such as natural or labor resources that also impact employment. When Kalenkoski and Lacombe measured the impact of RTW laws without accounting for a multitude of geographic factors, their estimates “dramatically overstate the positive relationship between RTW legislation and manufacturing employment.” When they did control for geographic factors, they found RTW legislation is associated with only a slight increase in manufacturing employment, along with a decrease in employment in agriculture, fishing, mining and some service industries. They concluded that “improperly controlling for geographic factors can lead to incorrect inferences and misinform policy.” RTW laws lead to declines in workplace representation and wages From the above studies, it’s clear that passing a RTW law is not a path to saving your state’s economy. Yet we know from many studies that RTW laws do lead to declines in union representation. 7 According to one study, one-third of the difference in union representation rates between RTW and non-RTW states is attributable to RTW laws .8 5 Wolfson, M. (2011). “Right to Work” vs. The Rights of Workers. South Bend, IN: The Higgins Labor Studies Program, University of Notre Dame. 6 Kalenkoski, Charlene and Donald Lacombe. “Right-to-Work Laws and Manufacturing Employment: The Importance of Spatial Dependence,” Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 73, No. 2 (Oct., 2006), pp. 402-418. 7 Hogler, Raymond, Steven Shulman and Stephan Weiler. 2004. “Right-to-Work Laws and Business Environments: An Analysis of State Labor Policy,” Journal of Managerial Issues 16, No. 3: 289-304; Davis, Joe C., and John W. Huston. 1995. “Right-to-work laws and union density: New evidence from micro data,” Journal of Labor Research 16:223-9; Garofalo, Gasper A., and Devinder M. Malhotra. 1992. “An integrated model of the economic effects of right-to-work laws,” Journal of Labor Research 13:293-305; Hirsch, Barry T. 1980. “The determinants of unionization: An analysis of inter-area differences,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 33:147-61; Carroll, Thomas M. 1983. “Right-to-work laws do matter,” Southern Economic Journal 50:494-509. 8 Garofalo, 1992. With reduced collective power in the workplace, it’s no surprise that RTW legislation leads to lower wages. Lonnie Stevans, as noted above, found that RTW laws are correlated with lower wages. These low wages limit the discretionary income people have to spend in non-manufacturing sectors. For a state like Michigan, that is 85 percent of the economy. 9 Henry Farber, Professor of Economics at Princeton University, found that after Idaho passed a RTW law in 1985, there was a statistically significant drop in nonunion wages relative to other states. 10 Research conducted by Elise Gould and Heidi Shierholtz of the Economic Policy Institute also measured the impact of RTW laws on wages. 11 The authors found that wages in RTW states are 3.2 percent lower than those in non-RTW states, even after controlling for both macroeconomic and individual demographic and socioeconomic variables. This is in part due to the diminished function of the “union threat effect,” which occurs when non-union employers try to keep wages close to that of nearby union companies. 12 They also found that the rate of employer-sponsored pensions is 4.8 percentage points lower in RTW states, again controlling for a full complement of other factors. The authors conclude that, “If workers in non-RTW states were to receive pensions at this lower rate, 3.8 million fewer workers nationally would have pensions .” 9 Lafer, Gordon. (2011). ‘Right to Work’: The Wrong Answer for Michigan’s Economy. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. 10 Farber, H.S. 2005. “Nonunion Wage Rates and the Threat of Unionization,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 58(3): 335-352. 11 Gould, Elise, and Heidi Shierholtz. 2011. “The Compensation Penalty of Right-to-Work Laws,” Economic Policy Institute <http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/6796/> 12 Zullo, Roland. (N.D.) What “Right to Work” Would Mean for Michigan. Ann Arbor: Institute for Labor and Industrial Relations. Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:19 pm  untanglingwebs El Supremo The Truth about Indiana’s Right to Work Jobs Utopia! Wednesday, December 12, 2012 20:11 Make no mistake, Republicans and their supporters are the biggest freeloaders in the country. Their empty rhetoric over the “takers” is a distraction from their own desire to feed off the government, its services and now union representation. The Economic Policy Institute just released the facts over Indiana’s claim Right to Work has attracted business. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has pointed to Indiana’s economic success since passing “right to work” as a reason for Michigan to adopt similar legislation. Here are the facts: -It is too soon for the RTW law to have impacted corporate location decisions. -Claims of RTW success story refuted by employer cited … the MBC Group as an employer that he said was creating jobs in Indiana because of RTW. MBC is not an out-of-state firm, but was founded in Indiana in 2009, and opened its Brookville location … The MBC Group promptly denied that RTW was the reason for its location decision. -Companies claimed to be attracted by RTW were actually already located in Indiana … Busche Steel, DynamicsSealCorp USA, Whayne Supply … That Indiana officials count each of these companies as firms whose facilities were drawn to the state because of RTW raises serious concerns regarding the reliability of IEDC claims as to the law’s impact. -Not a single company says it came to Indiana because of RTW: IEDC is a vocal advocate for RTW … the commission’s Legislative Update report does not identify a single company that says RTW made the difference in its decision to locate in Indiana. -Indiana continues to lose jobs to non-RTW states: The extent to which RTW is discounted in business location decisions is apparent in the significant number of Indiana firms that—since the passage of RTW—continue to choose to invest in other, non-RTW states. A short sample of such decisions includes: Manitowic plans to close its Indiana facility and move the jobs to Cleveland, Ohio.16, Diamond Foods plans to close its Indiana facility and move the jobs to California.17, Whirlpool plans to move the jobs remaining in its Evansville, Indiana, facility to Benton Harbor, Michigan.18, Gunite (Accuride) closed its Indiana facility and moved the jobs to Illinois.19 2012 job growth is due to the economic recovery rather than RTW A former liberal radio talk host who likes to ask the “follow-up question” at Democurmudgeon.blogspot.com 2012-12-12 17:35:23 Source: http://democurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-truth-about-indianas-right-to-work.html Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:28 pm  untanglingwebs El Supremo Report exposes the lies behind 'Right to Work' January 3, 2012 News Release Indiana AFL-CIO In a must-read report issued by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Jan. 3, arguments made by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, American Legislative Exchange Council, National Right to Work Committee and other out-of-state and corporate special interest groups pushing for a so-called "right to work" (RTW) law here in Indiana are taken to the woodshed. These groups have been playing fast and loose with the facts in an attempt to hide the political motivations behind "right to work" and distract our elected officials from working to create good jobs for Hoosier families. According to the EPI's independent review, statements and materials distributed by interest groups to the Indiana General Assembly have supplied lawmakers with blatantly incomplete, outdated and twisted information. Here are just a few of the tall tales being pushed by the anti-worker crowd that the EPI has dismantled: • "The National Right to Work Committee issued a 'factsheet' stating that job growth over the past decade was slower in Indiana than in the "Midwest" RTW states (National Institute for Labor Relations Research 2011). The factsheet does not disclose that the higher "average" for these states is due entirely to North Dakota, whose growth was sped up by the discovery of oil, which has nothing to do with RTW. Without North Dakota, the rest of the states averaged a net job loss " Four of the five fastest-growing states in the country were non-RTW states, and Indiana's growth was 25 percent greater than that of its nearest RTW neighbor, Iowa." - Economic Policy Institute • "If the National Right to Work Committee had focused on manufacturing instead of oil, it would have found that in the past two years Indiana added more than twice as many manufacturing jobs as all the Midwest RTW states combined. If businesses and workers are 'voting with their feet,' they are voting for Indiana." • "The National Right to Work Committee also produced a Powerpoint presentation, 'Indiana and Right to Work,' that quotes an executive of Fantus, a site-location firm, warning that approximately 50 percent of our clients ... do not want to consider locations unless they are in right-to-work states' (National Right to Work Committee 2011). The committee neglects to mention that the quote is based on a report from 1975, and that by 1986, the firm's executive vice president reported that the figure had fallen to 10 percent (Warren 1986)." • "In its 'Rich States, Poor States' report, the American Legislative Exchange Council promotes RTW by noting that RTW Texas has added more jobs in the past decade than any other state and declaring Texas 'the state with the best policy to emulate' (Lafer et al. 2011, 13). What ALEC doesn't tell readers is that for the last four years, the state's job growth has come entirely through government jobs, while the private sector shrank--clearly a trend that cannot be credited to RTW (Fletcher 2011)." • "In January, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce published a report claiming that from 1977 to 2008, per capita income grew at a faster rate in RTW states than non-RTW states and concluding that if Indiana adopted an RTW law, Hoosiers would enjoy similar income growth. What the Chamber failed to disclose is that, while the overall average of the 22 RTW states was impressive – led by fast-growing states such as North Dakota and Virginia – the actual state-by state numbers showed no relationship whatsoever between RTW laws and income growth. Four of the five fastest-growing states in the country were non-RTW states, and Indiana's growth was 25 percent greater than that of its nearest RTW neighbor, Iowa (Vedder et al. 2011; Lafer 2011)." It's alarming that groups like this are allowed to knowingly and willfully mislead our elected leaders with false information. In Congress, providing false information would be considered a crime, but Indiana has no such laws – maybe we should The truth is that these forces of greed will lie, cheat and even lock Hoosiers out of their own Statehouse in order to jam this very unpopular law down our throats because even they know it won't do anything but lower workers' wages and increase corporate profits. For more information, contact Indiana State AFL-CIO at inaflcio@inaflcio.org. The Bloomington Alternative. Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:36 pm  untanglingwebs El Supremo Analysis of Flawed Right to Work Legislation Shows Governor, Republican Legislators, Had Never Revie www.senatedems.com Lansing – Less than 24 hours after Governor Snyder signed his damaging “Right to Work” legislation into law, analysis shows that the flawed legislation may not even have the result the Governor claimed it would, raising serious questions about whether the Republican leadership even read the language.... MIchigan Democratic Senators Analysis of Flawed Right to Work Legislation Shows Governor, Republican Legislators, Had Never Reviewed Language Prior to Signing it Into Law Lansing – Less than 24 hours after Governor Snyder signed his damaging “Right to Work” legislation into law, analysis shows that the flawed legislation may not even have the result the Governor claimed it would, raising serious questions about whether the Republican leadership even read the language of the bills before voting it through and signing it into law. “It's become increasingly clear that the Governor presented the legislature with bills written by out-of-state extremists who had no understanding of Michigan's constitution or how our laws apply to Michigan workers,” said Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer. “This is what happens when the Governor does an 11th hour about face in a lame duck session showing utter contempt for our people by cutting out all public input, scrutiny and debate. That isn't leadership, it's epic incompetence .” Reports today show that HB 4003, which the Governor said would provide “Right to Work” type policies for public employees in Michigan, could not be implemented as intended as the Michigan Constitution gives clear authority to the Civil Service Commission over conditions of employment for the state's workforce. Experts have suggested today only a vote of the Civil Service Commission could enact Right to Work policies for state workers. “The public was not given an opportunity to read these bills, legislators were not given an opportunity to read these bills, and we now know that the Governor himself either didn't read or didn't understand these bills himself,” said Senator Bert Johnson (D – Detroit). “This process has been a complete affront to Democracy from the start and was nothing more than a political gift to the Koch Brothers and ALEC who bought and paid for this legislation.” A series of questions have been raised in recent days over the legality of the “Right to Work” legislation as well as the process in which it passed. A lawsuit has already been filed against the Michigan House of Representatives for violating the Open Meetings Act as these bills were passed while the public was illegally locked out of the State Capitol and additional legal challenges are expected in the coming days. Share: View CommentsJoin the Conversation December 12, 2012 Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:53 pm  twotap F L I N T O I D Proving once again that no group can whine more then liberals who just had their butts handed to them. No more guaranteed democrat campaign donations from the Mi unions which is what the real complaint is. _________________ "If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!! Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:13 am  untanglingwebs El Supremo Progress Michigan Not Even One By Joshua Pugh on December 13, 2012 4:33 PM As has been reported on multiple times already, the most notable thing about the way Republicans passed so-called “right-to-work” laws in Michigan was the speed and lack of any public input. But as time goes by, giving reporters a chance to examine the law that lawmakers apparently weren’t allowed to examine before voting on it, it’s beginning to look like they may have overlooked a few things. Gov. Rick Snyder's next right-to-work battle could be with the Civil Service Commission over whether the new law applies to Michigan's 35,000 union employees. Civil Service Commission Chair Thomas (Mac) Wardrop said Wednesday the question "will be an issue" and Commissioner Robert Swanson said it's his opinion state employees are exempt. Union officials and at least one constitutional expert agree. "I don't believe that it does apply to state employees," Swanson told The Detroit News on Wednesday. "The constitutional language is clear in terms of the commission having plenary authority over (state employees') conditions of employment." In other words, the fact that the bill was plagiarized from an ALEC model bill and the speed with which it was forced through have combined to set up a nasty confrontation for Republican politicians in Lansing. Police and firefighters were exempted from the bill for one reason: when Gov. Kasich stripped public employees of bargaining rights in Ohio, it was the opinion of Republicans that the ballot initiative overturning this legislation was successful because the public sympathized with first responders and thought they should be able to bargain for fair wages and benefits, and safe working conditions. So this carve-out was pure politics, done to make it harder for Democrats and the nurses and teachers subjected to “right-to-work” in Michigan to push back against the law. Police and firefighters are protected in Michigan under Public Act 312, which gives them a right to binding arbitration. But Michigan’s unionized state workers are protected by the state’s constitution, which gives the Civil Service Commission - not the Legislature - authority over state employees’ conditions of employment, including their ability to negotiate for a union shop, which “right-to-work” laws make illegal. The most embarrassing part for Republican leaders is that the constitutional lawyer who disagrees with their take on this is the Mackinac Center’s godfather, prominent Republican Richard McLellan. Here’s what he told the Detroit News: Lansing attorney Richard McLellan, an expert on the Michigan Constitution, said language included in the legislation saying the law applies to state employees will have "no impact." Snyder and GOP lawmakers may have been "blindsided" by the Civil Service issue, he said. "(The Legislature) cannot touch state Civil Service and they can't touch the Michigan State Police," McLellan said. Ouch. Maybe with a little public input, they could have caught that earlier? Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:22 pm  untanglingwebs El Supremo Mark Blackwell•18 hours ago Shut up!!! Don't make a big deal out of this until these republican asshats leave office in January! Gerald Weinand•3 hours ago Last year three other states - Maine, Missouri and New Hampshire - all saw right-to-work bills using language from ALEC: http://www.dirigoblue.com/2011... Felesar•an hour ago The whole fast-track through a lame duck session has me thinking it will all get overturned eventually, or at least heavily amended. No discussion. No being able to view the wording. No public input. Attached a million dollar appropriation to it, without an appropriations committee being allowed to examine it. Doesn't matter if you're for right to work or not, they really went about pushing this through the wrong way. Good chance it will come back to bite them, eventually, either by completely being ruled invalid for failure to follow process and law, or by the outing of those voted in that worked so quickly to push it through uncontested. Many rules broken here, and eventually someone will have oversight on it. Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:27 pm  Dave Starr F L I N T O I D Sounds like the way Obamacare went through congress. _________________ I used to care, but I take a pill for that now. Pushing buttons sure can be fun. When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way. Paddle faster, I hear banjos. Fri Dec 14, 2012 1:22 pm  untanglingwebs El Supremo Snyder admits making Michigan a Right to Work state was never about creating jobs By Eclectablog on January 26, 2013 in GOPocrisy, Labor, Michigan Republicans, Rick Snyder My, my, Governor. That didn’t take long. Remember when Governor Snyder and his Republican colleagues were telling us all how important making Michigan a Right to Work state was for improving our economy? “It’s freedom to work!” they said. “It will make us competitive with other states!” they claimed. “It will create more and better jobs!” they told us. Turns out that even Governor Snyder doesn’t believe that tripe. Less than a month after his Economic Development Corporation spent $144,000 on a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal touting our new Right to Work status as one of the attractive benefits of setting up shop in Michigan, this week Snyder admitted it’s all a damn lie. “Over 90 percent of the jobs that you’re looking at aren’t going to be in a situation where right to work is even relevant,” Snyder said in the hotel’s Ambassador Ballroom. “Let’s keep in mind what the economy is really about. Why not embrace the great things going on and be more positive? “Let’s not live in the Michigan of the past where we fought. Let’s learn from it and recognize that we’re in the Michigan of 2013, but let’s be planning for the Michigan of 2025 and a great place for all of these young people.” I’m not sure which is more galling, the fact that he is admitting the Right to Work isn’t an economic issue (which it is not) or his suggestion that, after all of the attacks on union members and the poor and the middle class in Michigan, we should all just go lie down by our bowl and be quiet. He is, of course, right on the first point. Less than a fifth of Michigan workers belong to unions so the overall impact on whether or not a company chooses Michigan as a place to invest is minimal. That’s especially true given that basically half of the country’s states are now Right to Work. It’s simply not a competitive situation when everyone else is doing the same thing. It is, simply put, just a way to crush unions and lower wages overall. And, though they make up less than a fifth of the work force, those union jobs DO help keep wages at a level that builds our middle class and has since the middle of the last century. Right to Work has never been more than a blatant attempt to strip power from unions. It puts the power in the hands of the corporations and kneecaps one of the most reliable financial contributors to the Democratic Party. With the far more corporatist Republicans in the driver’s seat, politically-speaking, corporations will, over time gain even more power. They almost saw their fondest dream come true when Mitt Romney, King of the Corporatists, came within a few percentage points of winning the 2012 presidential election. But, with corporatist Governors like Rick Snyder and Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and Florida’s Rick Scott, they are still well on their way to ultimate political success unless we put the brakes on them. I’ll say this much about Snyder’s admission that Right to Work was never about economic improvement: I never, ever thought he’d admit it just a month later. Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:25 am  Dave Starr F L I N T O I D Well, since he's a Satan worshiping republican he should be expected to do evil things. Unlike democrats, who are perfect in all things. _________________ I used to care, but I take a pill for that now. Pushing buttons sure can be fun. When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way. Paddle faster, I hear banjos. Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:25 am  untanglingwebs El Supremo Sen. Colbeck Tells Koch-Funded Group RTW PassedBecause of DeVos Funding Jennifer Tramontana Behind closed doors, Colbeck gives credit to billionaire “unsung hero” DeVos LANSING - Citizens advocacy group Progress Michigan today released audio from anAmericans for Prosperity “Citizen Watchdog Training” where lawmakers and activistsbragged about the circumstances surrounding passage of RTW in Michigan. Sen.Patrick Colbeck was given a featured speaking spot, in which he gave credit tobillionaire Amway heir Dick DeVos and former Michigan Republican Party Chair RonWeiser for providing “air cover...financial contributions” for lawmakers who werewavering in their support for RTW.“It’s amazing what Republican politicians will say to Tea Party activists when they thinkno one is listening,” said Zack Pohl, Executive Director of Progress Michigan . “This just confirms what we’ve long suspected, that Gov. Snyder’s so-called Right to Work billwas bought-and-paid for by billionaire CEO Dick DeVos. It’s time for politicians likeSnyder and Colbeck to start protecting middle class families, not the special interests.”Colbeck has a history of accidentally telling the truth when the cameras are on. At acoffee hour with constituents in April 2011, he complained about taking a “40 percentpay cut” to run for office, and said the United States is not a democracy.Americans for Prosperity is a conservative political advocacy group based in Arlington,Virginia and chaired by oil heir David H. Koch.###BACKGROUND:Audio of Patrick Colbeck talking about Amway heir Dick DeVos and Ron Weiserproviding “air cover” can be heardhere. Colbeck spoke at the AFP-Michigan “CitizensWatchdog Training” on January 19, 2013.Video of Colbeck’s April 2011 constituent coffee hour can be viewedhere. n. Colbeck Tells Koch-Funded Group RTW Passed Because of DeVos Funding Behind closed doors, Colbeck gives credit to billionaire “unsung hero” DeVos Published by progressmichigan 1/28/2013 Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:32 am  untanglingwebs El Supremo January 28, 2013 at 7:45 pm Snyder asks Mich. Supreme Court to decide right-to-work's constitutionality By Chad Livengood Detroit News Lansing Bureau Lansing — Gov. Rick Snyder on Monday asked the Michigan Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the new public sector right-to-work law and whether it applies to Michigan's 35,000 unionized state workers. In a letter to Chief Justice Robert Young Jr., Snyder asked the high court to decide whether Public 349 of 2012 interferes with the Michigan Civil Service Commission's ability to negotiate union contracts. Snyder also asked Young to have the court consider whether the law violates the 14th Amendment equal protection clause of the United State constitution "because the legislation does not apply to all employees in public or private sector bargaining units." The public right-to-work law exempts the Michigan State Police and unionized police and firefighters because they are governed by Public Act 312, which gives them special binding arbitration rights. A day after Snyder signed the law, Civil Service Commission Chair Thomas (Mac) Wardrop, Commissioner Robert Swanson, union officials and one constitutional expert close to the Snyder administration began questioning the constitutionality of the public sector law. State government labor unions have threatened to sue the state, Snyder said, prompting his request for the Supreme Court to consider the matter before its term ends. "The uncertainty over the law's impact upon state civil servants that protracted litigation would create would be very divisive and would not serve the interests of judicial economy," Snyder wrote to the chief justice. "Because the issues at stake are purely legal in character the court would not benefit from the factual development at the trial court level." clivengood@detroitnews.com (517) 371-3660 From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130128/POLITICS02/301280430#ixzz2JNZhxp6F Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:40 am    Display posts from previous:   All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First

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