Granholm Wants Labor Back at the Table
Forgive Jennifer Granholm for using some automotive terminology at the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources (CHR) on Sept. 25 when describing the sputtering performance of the John Engler-Dick Posthumus economic team.
“Why is Michigan, the industrial engine of our nation, stuck in first gear?” the Democratic gubernatorial candidate said as she highlighted her plan to jump-start the state’s faltering economy.
The attorney general, flanked by President Ron Gettelfinger, Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn, Vice President Richard Shoemaker, Vice President Gerald Bantom and other UAW officials, spoke about forming partnerships — particularly with labor — among the state’s constituencies to get Michigan moving again.
Granholm cited UAW-Big Three joint programs as an example of what can happen when labor is a true partner with business.
“She will listen to both labor and management on how to invest in Michigan’s future,” Gettelfinger said in introducing her. “Because Jennifer Granholm will listen, she will set new priorities for our state.”
Those priorities include solving a billion-dollar budget crisis the Engler-Posthumus team is about to leave behind, early childhood education, affordable health care and protecting consumers from a ravenous state insurance industry that the current insurance commissioner refuses to keep in check by automatically allowing rate hikes as high as 60 percent for homeowners’ insurance.
“He’s not even calling for hearings to determine if this is necessary,” Granholm said.
