Newaygo County Public Opinion

Senator Outman Weighs In On Right To Work Repeal

3/14/2023

State Senator Rick Outman

“I was in the House of Representatives when Right to Work passed, and on that day, we sent a message to Michigan workers and Michigan businesses that we were focused on growth and economic prosperity, and that they had our support,” said Outman, R-Six Lakes. “The passage of Right to Work put an ‘open for business’ sign in the window of this state and the Democrats are now turning that sign around to read ‘closed’ and shutting the lights off.

“It is not a coincidence that our state’s economy has flourished since Right to Work was signed into law. Median household income is up, employee benefits have outpaced inflation, and manufacturing in Michigan has grown well beyond states without Right to Work protections. Today, the Democratic majority voted in favor of their union supporters and told the rest of the state’s workers they are a secondary priority.

“In addition to voting to repeal Right to Work, Senate Democrats also voted to reinstate the state’s previous prevailing wage law, which has been shown to inflate construction costs on government projects.

“One of our most important obligations as lawmakers is the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. The cost of a construction project being increased by 10 to 15% based solely on the fact that public employees work in the building is both senseless and wasteful. Prevailing wage unnecessarily inflates costs and takes funding away from schools and higher education institutions, and most importantly: Michigan taxpayers.

“I think time will show the efforts passed by the Senate today as the mistakes that they are.”

-Rick Outman, State Senator, 33rd District

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Diane Purgiel

3/20/2023 01:11:36 pm

Interesting take on unions—Rick Snyder made his decision under the cover of night at the end of the year because he knew it was not widely accepted by voters. This type of underhanded behavior does not demonstrate it was best for everyone. Much like his decision about the Flint water crisis, he did not demonstrate confident strong leadership for people in need,.

Michigan has been top in manufacturing for years, it was once the Silicon Valley of the U.S. and still has a healthy manufacturing economy, along with others who benefit from a union.

The Economic Policy Institute has done numerous studies on benefit of unions and it contradicts much of your statement—in fact, as someone born and raised in Michigan it would be hard to ignore that unions created a better life for many, not just a few. Unions provide more than just benefits to workers and their families, studies have shown overall health of a community is stronger—like all the towns where people had their “up north” cottage or cabin who benefited from the tourist and summer resident trade,

Check out a few studies and you will see that where there are unions there is higher healthier quality of life. While unions of course are headed by people who make mistakes and certainly some have been made, but overall the worker, and communities throughout Michigan have benefited from unions. The balance of power at the top will not benefit everyone. And, statistically we are losing demographics so best to pay and treat people well and we all benefit.

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Senator Outman Weighs In On Right To Work Repeal

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