Liberal Agenda of Unionization Moves to Research Assistants at U of M  

The University of Michigan Board of Regents, under the control of a radically partisan agenda, is supporting an effort by the Graduate Employees' Organization to unionize graduate research assistants at the university. Many graduate research assistants are students at U of M. The president of U of M and a number of U of M faculty and graduate assistants oppose the drive to unionize research assistants. Senator Majority Leader Randy Richardville recently introduced legislation - Senate Bill 971 - which prohibits research assistants from being unionized at universities in Michigan. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce supports this legislation.

Despite the public outcry against this unionization, the Board of Regents this morning voted, on a party line vote, to oppose Sen. Richardville's legislation. The Board is controlled by Democrats. The actions taken by this Board to push through unionization that is not supported by students, faculty and university leadership shows the radical nature of Democrat politics on the university board. It also underscores the continued attempts by liberals in this state to control the agenda and work to stop the reforms being done by Gov. Rick Snyder and legislative leaders in the Michigan Senate and State House. 

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce will continue to monitor this situation and support the reform agenda laid out by the governor and legislative leaders. 

Office of Regulatory Reinvention Releases Recommendations to Eliminate Red Tape   

The Michigan Office of Regulatory Reinvention today released 77 recommendations for regulatory reform in Michigan which help eliminate red tape. The committee's recommendations touch on every aspect of the state's environmental regulations which have continuously hurt Michigan's competitiveness. The report outlines the steps needed to put Michigan back on track for a regulatory system that is reasonable, allows for Michigan businesses to be competitive with other states, and puts in place adequate protections for the environment. Read the Chamber's press release on the recommendations here. 

To learn more about the recommendations and to see the full report, click here. 

For further information, or an update, contact Jason Geer at 517/371-7673 or jgeer@michamber.com.