August 2011
Local 517M Back on the Airwaves
On Tuesday, August 30th SEIU Local 517M President Bill Ruhf was interviewed on the Capitol City Recap show on Lansing radio station 1320 WILS. The discussion was concerning the recent Court of Appeals ruling that nullified the 3% health care contribution that state employees are currently paying. An update on state employee bargaining was also covered.
Appeals Court Rules 3% Retiree Health Care Contribution Unconstitutional
On Friday, August 26th the Michigan Court of Appeals concurred with a decision by the Court of Claims that the three percent retiree health care contribution the Legislature asked of state workers contravened the power of the Civil Service Commission and is therefore unconstitutional.
SEIU, AFSCME, MSEA, and the UAW filed lawsuits that call into question the decision by the Michigan Legislature to enact a three percent contribution in the face of collective bargaining agreements that provided the workers with a three percent wage increase.
SEIU Local 517M President William Ruhf stated “We were well affirmed and Governor and Legislature was taken to task. If the Michigan Supreme Court follows the strict interpretation as they like to say, then we will win again. If not, then the Supreme Court will just be seen as a politics as usual body.”
The decision made by Court of Appeals Judges Hood, Beckering, and Stephens determined that the Civil Service Commission (CSC) has the authority in the state’s constitution to determine state employee pay and provides for a legislative override of their findings.
The Court sided with the Unions argument that the Legislature failed in obtaining the two-thirds vote to reject a negotiated three percent wage increase, therefore it enacted the three percent retiree health contribution in order to balance the budget.
“When a statute contravenes the provisions of the Michigan Constitution it is unconstitutional and therefore void,” wrote the court.
The parties have already been notified that the State intends to appeal this decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Local 517M President Bill Ruhf Interviewed on Lansing Radio
On Friday, August 19th SEIU Local 517M President Bill Ruhf was interviewed on the Tony Conley show on Lansing radio station 1320 WILS. The discussion was concerning the Coordinated Bargaining that SEIU and the other state employee unions will be engaging in. The discussion also centered around the New Solutions approach being taken in this year’s negotiations.
Citizens Protest Rep. Camp in Midland for Failing to Create Jobs, Attacking Medicare
Camp sides with CEOs and Wall Street bankers over middle class families
MIDLAND – Citizens groups today called on voters in the 4th Congressional District to hold their congressman, Dave Camp, accountable for his failure to create jobs and his attacks on vital public services that protect seniors, children and middle class families. Camp is a member of the Super Committee tasked with coming up with a plan to reduce the federal deficit by Nov. 23.
In Congress, Camp has been one of the most vocal opponents of laws that protect health care coverage for people. He has supported plans to gut Medicare and Medicaid and pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act that expands health care access.
Camp voted for a House Republican budget earlier this year that would cause the loss of roughly 700,000 jobs and force deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“Congressman Camp has enormous power as one of only 12 legislators on the Super Committee, and he should be using that power to create jobs, protect health care and get our economy moving again,” said Zack Pohl of We Are The People. “While people across the 4th District are searching for jobs and struggling to pay for groceries, the Congressman has been protecting tax breaks for millionaires and giant corporations. He has to change his priorities and start putting our seniors and workers first.”
Today’s demonstration is part of a growing number of protests against members of Congress this month by Americans who are fed up with politicians who side with CEOs and Wall Street bankers over middle class families and have failed to create jobs. The protesters are vowing to hold Rep. Camp and other politicians accountable in next year’s elections and vote out anyone who doesn’t invest in creating quality jobs for the middle class and protecting Medicare and other vital services.
“It’s disturbing that Dave Camp is making decisions about health care that affect millions of Michigan while being supported by health-care companies like Pfizer, which is sponsoring a fundraiser for him next month,” said John Freeman of Protect Your Care Michigan. “He needs to remember that he is accountable to the people he represents – not the donors that write the biggest check. His plans to cut Medicare and other vital programs would cause serious harm to tens of thousands of seniors and families in his district and take our country in the wrong direction.”
While 30 million Americans are looking for work, corporate profits are at a record high and Wall Street banks have made over $100 billion in profits since taxpayers bailed them out. Protesters want Congress to end tax breaks and loopholes for CEOs, hedge fund managers and others, and make giant corporations pay their fair share of taxes so America can invest in creating quality jobs and protecting essential services.
State Employee Unions Discuss Coordinated Bargaining
On Monday, August 15, 2011 unions representing 35,000 state employees met to discuss upcoming bargaining. All five unions (SEIU Local 517M, Michigan Corrections Organization, AFSCME Council 25, Michigan State Employees Association, and the United Auto Workers) have decided to conduct Coordinated Bargaining for wages and benefits. This will be the first time that all the unions have bargained together. Bargaining will be focused using the tenants of the New Solutions for Michigan report which was released in May. The bargaining teams would like the membership to be familiar with the key components of the plan. You can review the two-page executive summary here. You can view the full report here.
Dave’s Camp: Where’s the Jobs?
Dave Camp was elected to get the economy back on track and create jobs for us. But instead, Camp and other politicians in Washington are cutting jobs and destroying the American Dream for working people. People in our community are hurting – we need jobs now. There will be a rally held in St. Charles Park, (Corner of St. Charles St. and Poseyville Rd) in Midland on Tuesday, August 23rd from 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. At 4:45 pm we march up the road to Camp’s office and deliver our Dave’s good jobs applications and hold a press conference at Camp’s office to ask him: Whose side are you on? Are you with the CEOs and Wall Street, who caused the economic meltdown, or with the rest of us?
Every time we turn on the TV, we see politicians telling us we have no money and no choice but to cut vital services. But while 30 million Americans are looking for work, CEOs and Wall Street banks are reaping record profits and getting big bonuses — they’ve made over $100 billion since taxpayers bailed them out.
Instead of losing jobs with more budget cuts, we want politicians to eliminate the tax giveaways and loopholes for CEOs and big corporations – and use that money to invest in jobs to rebuild the American Dream in our communities.
We are fed up with politicians like Dave Camp who don’t care about good jobs – and we are going to hold him accountable in next year’s elections.
Members who live in the 4th Congressional District can fill out the “Dave’s Good Job Application“. These will be presented to Camp’s office at 4:45 p.m. We are collecting the “good job” app’s at the office in Saginaw via fax (989-797-4251), mail (1420 S. Michigan Ave., Saginaw), scanned and emailed to rep517@aol.com, or deliver in person thru Monday, Aug 22.