In the Governor’s State of the State speech last night he listed four of Michigan’s biggest cities as the most dangerous, with Detroit being one of them. In light of this International UAW Region 1A Director, Rory Gamble, is one of four sponsors of the Annual City-Wide Day of Peace and Healing, Sunday, January 22, 2012. The Day of Peace will begin with a motorcade open to the public to join and will end with a rally at Fellowship Chapel in Detroit. During this time when so many have lost their lives to senseless violence, please join our community and religious leaders in paving the way for safer communities.

For further information, please see the flyer below or visit www.theucoa.org.

State employees will not have to wait until April to get their refund on the 3% that had been taken out of their checks. Governor Synder has stated that the witholding of the 3% will end with the paychecks issue December 22, 2011. The refund of funds in escrow, with interest, will be addressed in the January 19, 2012 paychecks.

State employee unions and some legislatures had urged the funds be returned before the end of the year but this will not be the case. Click here for a list of frequently asked questions regarding the HCC. Additional news will be provided as it comes in.

Today the Michigan Civil Service Commission approved all five agreements ratified recently by members of the labor organizations that comprise the Coalition of State Employee Unions. Leaders of the five unions – UAW, SEIU 517M, Michigan Corrections Officers, Michigan State Employees Association, and AFSCME Council 25 – were present at the meeting and welcomed the official conclusion to the collective bargaining process.

“The Coalition commends the Governor for recognizing that when labor and management collaborate, we can work together toward creating smarter, more efficient government that benefits the workers and provides better services for Michigan citizens,” said International Union, UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada, who led the historic, first-time Coalition negotiations with the state. “Michigan is leading the way in showing that labor-management relations can work.”

The five collective bargaining agreements cover 35,000 state employees. Non-economic terms of the contracts begin on January 1, 2012; economic terms of the contracts begin on October 1, 2012.

MetLife the current Long Term Care (LTC) provider stopped issuing new LTC policies in April 2011. In June 2011 MetLife notified current policyholders that they could choose an optional inflation increase, in the letter they indicated that they requested a 45% rate increase. It is expected to be approved as it has in multiple other states.

The State of Michigan (SOM) and Employee Benefits Division (EBD) approached Gallagher Benefits Services to identify a new LTC provider; there were several carrier bids and evaluations. The SOM chose PRUDENTIAL, effective February 1, 2012. Premiums for the new carrier Prudential will be 5.7% higher than the MetLife premiums (after the 45% increase). Prudential has guaranteed that the premiums will not increase through January 31, 2019.

In case you missed it, last week a Tea Party-backed Grand Traverse County Commissioner helped pass a resolution urging Gov. Snyder and local lawmakers to support so-called "Right-to-Work" legislation. The fact is there is no such thing as "forced unionism," and Right-to-Work states have sharply decreased wages, poorer working conditions, and less equality in the workplace. Accredited research has been done on Right-to-Work for decades, yet still corporate special interest groups like the right-wing Heritage Foundation and Mackinac Center continue to put out slanted polls and reports to advance their anti-worker agenda.

The group 'Michigan Freedom to Work' has been holding meetings and press conferences across the state with former failed GOP candidates, claiming to be a "grassroots movement" in support of Right-to-Work. In these times of financial crisis in Michigan, pushing for this anti-union legislation will do nothing to help get our economy back on track. Right-to-Work is simply a well-known union-busting tactic, denying employees the freedom to negotiate with their employers.

Today, we are urging you to contact your legislators and urge them to NOT support this divisive Right-to-Work issue while more important issues are at hand. Thousands of Michiganders are still struggling to simply support their family and keep a roof over their head, and do not deserve to see their wages get slashed even further. If there is any pro-Right-to-Work activity happening in your area, please let us know so we can fight to protect Michigan workers.

In Solidarity

Michigan AFL-CIO

If lawmakers want people to go into public service and represent the state well, they should not attack the benefit package those employees receive, state workers told the House Appropriations Committee as it continued discussions on HB 4701 and HB 4702 Wednesday.

The two-bill package, which will get another hearing, would dramatically alter the benefit package offered to state workers, particularly those under the defined contribution (401k) retirement plan.

Daniel Horn, a former legislative staffer who now works for the Department of Human Services as an eligibility specialist, said he's the type of young, educated Michigander politicians say they want to stay in the state during campaign season, but the effort to alter his health care benefits makes him question how lawmakers view public service.