Guest Blogger, Nancy Wickman, has been a precinct delegate in Clayton Township since 2014 and is also a member of the Genesee County Democratic Party’s Policy Committee. She is retired from the Michigan Department of Human Services where she was a member of UAW Local 6000.
***ALERT***
You might encounter people working for National Petition Management asking you to sign a petition to initiate repeal of the prevailing wage law. If you do, decline to sign. The prevailing wage is a 100-year-old American practice establishing minimum labor standards on public projects. Michigan’s prevailing wage law mandates that construction workers on state-financed projects, whether they are union or non-union, are paid fair, standardized wages and benefits. The law also allows for rigorous safety and training programs. Research confirms that repealing prevailing wage laws leads to higher injury rates, lower wages, a lessexperienced workforce, less workforce training, and reduced healthcare.
The corporate-backed, anti-labor group behind this effort, Protecting Michigan Taxpayers, was formed in 2012 as a front group for anti-union interests who wanted to defeat Proposal 2 which would have enshrined collective bargaining rights in the Michigan Constitution. They appeared again in the spring of 2015 to push a ballot initiative to repeal Michigan’s prevailing wage law. In 2015 the paid signature gatherers were found to be lying to people to get their signatures. They weren’t successful in 2015 so they’re trying again using a different contractor to collect the signatures. Based on the recent experiences of our members, they are again providing false information about the initiative. Help us maintain decent wages for workers in our state and decline to sign.
