Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan (ABC) praised action by the Michigan Senate Appropriations Higher Education Subcommittee on March 27, adding to mounting pressure that Michigan State University (MSU) end a union organizing academy previously administered by the AFL-CIO National Labor College.  

The subcommittee passed language that would enact a $500,000 penalty on a public university that participates in instructional activity that encourages or discourages union organizing.  The action comes after ABC and other groups called for MSU to end its "Building Trades Academy."

"The action by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) and the Senate Subcommittee demonstrates bold leadership on an issue that is seriously disturbing - a public land-grant university engaging in union organizing activities," says Chris Fisher, ABC of Michigan president. "No public university should be allowed to continue inappropriate use of public resources. The Senate Subcommittee deserves praise for its quick, decisive action and clear message that MSU's program is not appropriate and needs to end."

The higher education budget, which was passed out of committee, states that a public university shall not participate "in any instructional activity that encourages or discourages union organizing of employees."

Subcommittee Chair Schuitmaker said that MSU "has taken over the duties of the national labor college," and noted that the courses promote unionization and how to target non-union companies, even though non-unionized companies already have positive relationships with their employees.

In response, MSU described the purpose of the program as, "intended to train union personnel in how to become leaders, how to negotiate effectively, and how to attract owners to bring their work to signatory employers and achieve voluntary recognition from construction employers." [emphasis added].

"The revision of the Building Trades Academy course description is equally as alarming as the original course description," Fisher notes. "By stating that the program is designed to bring work to signatory employers MSU admits that the program is designed steer work to only to unionized contractors. The admission by MSU that the program seeks to achieve recognition from employers removes all doubt that the purpose of the academy is to unionize companies by getting them to recognize unions as the bargaining agent of their employees."

"No matter how you cut it, one thing is clear in both the original course descriptions and the revised MSU explanation regarding the program's purpose - MSU has taken over administration of an AFL-CIO program that instructs union officials on methods of interfering with the operations of non-union companies to cause labor disruption in order to pressure them to unionize."

MSU has stated its intention to "revise" the program and its content after the March 27 Senate Subcommittee action.

House Speaker Jase Bolger April 3 unveiled a plan for structural changes in transportation funding in Michigan. Speaker Bolger's plan provides for increasing investment in Michigan's roadways that reaches a minimum of $500 million annually for roads. The funding comes almost entirely from current resources, with special large vehicle fee increases, funding shifts, and gasoline and diesel tax reforms. The proposal includes four areas of focus:

Increased Efficiency

• More competitive bidding for local road agencies, including allowing townships to require bidding on projects they help fund
• Requiring MDOT to competitively bid services of entire regions
• Improving efficiencies in MDOT procedures

Improved Quality

• Requiring all road work to have appropriate warranties
• Requiring all large projects to have a minimum 5-year warranty
• Beginning use of innovative contracting methods such as Performance Based  Maintenance Contracting

Improved Fairness ($76.5 million more for roads in FY15)

• Repealing the 15-cent per gallon diesel tax and replacing it with a 6-percent wholesale tax, which provides for parity with unleaded gasoline. (At $4 per gallon, it would dedicate an additional $47 million to roads.)
• Increasing overweight/oversize permit fees
• Simplifying the vehicle registration code to close loopholes for special deals
• Applying the newly purchased vehicle value upon transferring a license plate

Investing Current Resources ($379 million dedicated to roads in FY15)

• Repealing the 19-cent per gallon gas tax and replacing it with a 6-percent wholesale tax (At $3.55 per gallon that would be revenue neutral but it provides a better base for the future.)
• Permanently dedicating all available dollars of state sales tax on fuel to roads while preserving all dollars that currently go to schools and local government
• Permanently dedicating 1-percent of the existing state Use Tax to roads while preserving all dollars that currently go to schools and local governments

Read more about the plan here.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) praised April 9th's U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce markup of The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 4320) and The Employee Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 4321), which halt key elements of the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) "ambush" election proposed rule.

The legislation was introduced by House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), respectively.

"ABC opposes the erosion of workplace rights, especially when current NLRB statistics show that the median time between when a union files a petition and the election takes place is 38 days and that union bosses are already winning 65 percent of elections," said ABC Vice President of Government Affairs Geoff Burr. "We are encouraged by today's markup and will continue to lead the fight against ambush elections and unfair workplace practices through every available avenue."

ABC has consistently opposed the NLRB's proposed changes as unfair to employers and employees and has raised privacy concerns over the proposal's distribution of employee's personal contact information. The association was joined by more than 1,200 ABC members in filing comments requesting the NLRB withdraw its ambush election proposal. In addition, the ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace filed comments against the proposed rule with support from more than 140 local organizations, including over 40 ABC chapters.

In addition to filing written comments and supporting the House's legislative fix, ABC's General Counsel, Maury Baskin, will testify at the NLRB's public meeting on the ambush rule in Washington, D.C., April 10 and 11. The board has released an agenda of speakers and speaking times  and plans to webcast the public meeting in its entirety at http://www.nlrb.gov/openmeeting.