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REDFORD, MICH. – President Barack Obama traveled Monday to Michigan to tout a new investment in domestic auto jobs, while using the opportunity to assail the state's Republican lawmakers for pursuing "right to work" legislation.
With three weeks to go to avoid the fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama will travel to a Detroit auto plan and attempt to sell his plan to raise taxes on the top two percent of Americans.
Obama renewed his offensive to pressure Republicans into extending middle class tax cuts, calling on Congress to pass legislation making the Bush-era tax rates for those making below $250,000 permanent.
But this trip to the Detroit-area came with some extra baggage in the form of a state-wide union battle over a right-to-work law that Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder (R) has pledged to sign. The president addressed the union controversy towards the middle of his remarks:
"We should do everything we can to encourage companies like Daimler to keep investing in American workers," Obama said, "what we shouldn’t be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions."
Related: Lawmakers implore Michigan gov. to halt or delay 'right to work' law
The audience responded enthusiastically as the president continued: "These so-called right-to-work laws, they don't have to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics. What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money."
While Snyder did not join the president for his event at the Daimler-owned Detroit Diesel Corporation, the governor did greet Obama on the tarmac along with some of the Democratic members of Michigan’s congressional delegation.
Snyder had a meeting with many members of the Michigan delegation earlier today to discuss the legislation, which would make mandatory payment of union dues or fees as a condition of employment illegal. On the flight to Michigan, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney noted that the president’s opposition to right-to-work laws was “well known” and the optics of this were brought even more into focus by the president being accompanied on his tour of the engine plant by the UAW NW Local 163 Detroit Diesel Engine Unit Shop Chairperson Mark Gibson, and multiple people in the crowd sporting UAW stickers. Currently, 23 states and Guam have some type of right-to-work legislation on the books.
Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images
President Barack Obama speaks on the economy and fiscal cliff negotiations after touring the Daimler Detroit Diesel Plant in Redford, Michigan, December 10, 2012.
But while the president was on the tour of the Redford engine plant, the clock continued to tick towards the end of the year and the so-called fiscal cliff. Obama again insisted that tax rates on the wealthiest Americans should be allowed to go up,
"What you need is a package that keeps taxes where they are for middle-class families," he said. "We make some tough spending cuts on things that we don't need, and then we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a slightly higher tax rate. And that's a principle I won't compromise on."
He didn’t mention his meeting over the weekend with House Speaker John Boehner, choosing instead to focus the blame on Congress if taxes go up for everyone at the end of the year.
"If Congress doesn't act soon -- meaning in the next few weeks -- starting on Jan. 1, everybody's going to see their income taxes go up. It's true,” the president said. The audience loudly booed and the president responded, “You all don't like that.”
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Actually, it is the right to find a job and not being forced to join a union and submit one's job to their oversight. It is the right to search for and find a job without having to PAY a union for that right to work.
The law isn't even close to "right to work". It's really, accept less pay and benefits and be quiet about it.
"...giving you the right to work for less money." That's right Obama, just like the 53% have to work and end up with less money because we have to support the 47%.
Romney and your ideology lost.
The rich have always paid more. Leave the poor alone.
Unions hard at work....
Remember back in 2010 when 13 Chrysler auto workers got busted drinking and smoking what appeared to be marijuana on the job? Sure you do, it was all over the news.
Unsurprisingly, once news of their "extracurricular" activities made headlines, they were promptly fired by the embarrassed automaker for violating company policy.
But here's something new: Chrysler has been forced to reinstate all 13 of the disgraced employees. As it turns out, the 13 kicked back against the company's decision and filed a grievance and entered arbitration.
Amazingly enough, the arbitrator decided to give them their jobs back. No, seriously, the arbiter sided with the 13 fired employees and Chrysler has been forced to reinstate them.
If the arbiter's decision has got you hot under the collar, know that you're not alone. Chrysler doesn't seem very happy with the decision either.
The following is a public statement issued by the company [via My Fox Detroit]:
Chrysler Group LLC acknowledges the reinstatement of a number of employees from the Jefferson North assembly plant who were discharged from the company in September 2010 after appearing in a local TV station's story about their off-duty conduct.
While the company does not agree with the ultimate decision of the arbitrator, we respect the grievance procedure process as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement and our relationship with the UAW. Unfortunately, the company was put in a very difficult position because of the way the story was investigated and ultimately revealed to the public. These employees from Jefferson North have been off work for more than two years. The time has come to put this situation behind us and resume our focus on building quality products that will firmly establish Chrysler Group's position in the marketplace.
Were Chrysler representatives forced to deliver that statement aloud, we can't help but think that it would have been done entirely through gritted teeth.
From what Chrysler said it appears they were not at work but off duty. What you do in you own time is yours.
To hell with the corp!
That's right....I'm tired of the Republican mantra of governing my life.
I worked in a union shop once. Crazy. They'd actually take money out of my check to pay union dues, yet I wasn't a union member until after a probationary period. I'd call that legalized theft. Absolutely nuts.
The day an employee tells the employer to pay him more or he'll stop working. That philosophy is insane.
Worked with a nurse's union and it was a nightmare (prior to that experience, I was pro-union). The union protected the lazy, incompetent nurses while the competent nurses got little or nothing in return (the union bosses made out quite well, though).
I grew up in Detroit and the UAW looked the other way while workers smoked pot on the line and got drunk. Any wonder those cars were such a mess?
Unions once had their place but they are outmoded and out-of-step with a global economy. Look what unions did to Detroit - ran off the auto industry to the South, Mexico, Canada, and Europe.
We all know how Obama feels about a persons right to work, he wants to extend unemployment for another year because those who falls off the unemployment rolls are moving to the next office in order to get on welfare and food stamps rolls.
Yes, and Republicans have stifled the economy and obstructed law that would have helped.
Eric
Adding over $6 trillion to the national debt in less then 4 years which created a debt crisis and made our government unstable isn't helping this country one bit. Counting temporary summer and seasonal hirings as job to your job numbes to deceive people like you sure is working isn'tit. Real unemployment over 14%.
People and Companies don't invest in an unstable government.
Try growing up. It will return you to reality.
The debt is due to Bush! Wake up and take off the tin foil hat, and the tires go on the car not the house.
crushedu
Bush added $5.1 trillion to the national debt in 8 years. Obama added an additional $6 trillion in less than 4 years.
31.9 million people were receiving food stamps when Obama took office. 47.1 million people are receiving food stamps now. That's an increase of 15.2 million or an average of 73,077 people getting added to the food stamp rolls each week Obama has been president.
For the past two years Obama's been claiming his tax reform will fix the economy. Its the same song he sang in his first campaign that got him elected as President.
Reality check: With the democrats in control of both houses of congress in 2009 and 2010, Obama never even proposed his tax reform to congress, but he did push for and get the Bush tax cuts to the rich extended in 2010 with his democratic congress.
Reality check: 11 of the 19 richest congress members are democrats. Over half of the congress members are millionaires and the other half are working their butts off to become millionaires.
Trying to sell the idea that millionaire democratic congress members and Obama who is worth $11.6 million are working for the middle class is asinine. Are you aware that Obama's wealth grew by $1.6 million this year?
You Obama supporters have a choice; return to reality on your own or let reality punch you in the face. It's your choice because you will be returning to reality soon rather than later. Its only a matter of time.
ever hear of the movie "Norma Rae"???????? Go find it on netflex
Good movie.......
Paid supporters of The Kochs are out in force today. I call them Koch Straps.
I have not been on the Vine long enough to be allowed to post a link, but there was a study done that shows wage inequity rose as union membership decreased. All of the people who complain about the increase in food stamps and subsidized housing are usually the same ones who don't like unions--seems strange. But maybe not. I understand that greed and political corruption have plagued unions. I wish that both unions and management would be less grasping and look at the total picture, but I'll see unicorns before I see a spirit of cooperation.
I worked for an outstanding company that had no union. We had good pay, great benefits, a safety record second to none. Why? Because fear of unions is one of the reasons great, nonunion companies offer these kinds of benefits.
Again, I wish, for the sake of the nation, that unions and management could see that they're both valuable.
Let's see, Republicans are still calling everybody names, Democrats are trying to shoot down all the nutball theories, there is some agreement that the south is a good place to buy a house if you don't mind rednecks and bad public schools.
I think that unions are important in the public sector because you never know which moron is going to be your boss. In the private sector management is more stable so you should be able to pick your boss more easily. Large companies probably need some union love too because of that Peter Principle thing (like with public sector).
There does seem to be continued denial that WE WON THE FRACKING ELECTION SO GET OVER IT! And the reason Prez Obama won is HE'S BETTER THAN ANY REPUBLICAN at this moment in time.
I may vote for a Republican for Prez someday but he or she will have to be a lot like Prez Obama because he is close to ideal for me, a dude firmly in the middle. It's not a sin to like the political middle, unless you are a "modern" republican.
Of course Obama decries the Right to Work proposal, he has his hands in the Unions Mobs pocket
Will someone please tell King Hussein it's none of his business. I don't care how much the union leaders paid to spend the night in the Lincoln Bedroom of the Wite House Hotel.
Obams is a fu*king moron and Union members are thugs.
Right to work sounds pretty damn American to me...this the same State who had Union Workers re-instated with there jobs after being caught getting plowed with booze on the job...yep I think so. What a country...it is okay for the guy who makes my vehicle to be trashed at the workplace, but another guy can't work there unless he is part of the union which condones the drinking on the job behavior...makes sense i guess! And by the way Mr. President...if we need to raise taxes raise them...big deal...but pleasse do tell what these tough spending cuts are going to be...you haven't a clue much like your entire presidency! We are going to throw a deck chair of ther Queen Mary and call ourselves fiscally responsible...what a joke!
Just saw a clip on TV of Obama saying the Right to Work law (voters approved it by a wide margin) is a political versus an economic law. What a political hack. Democrats are in the tank for unions and Detroit is smothering in debt with an astronomical unemployment rate!!! Is Obama from this planet?
Worker in this state have not voted on it. The other side wants to let it be put to a vote. Learn to read!
obama is an ass....
California is a "right to work" state and the unions here are still screwing the tax payers in a massive way. Our students hardly get an education despite years of shoveling dump trucks of money on school districts.
Obviously there are a lot of really rich people who want to be able to keep thier profit up and workers down on this blog. What is wrong with you all. Don't you like your lunch breaks and weekends off? How about over time? You would have none of this without a union. Of course I think pensions for government employees needs to be abolished!! No one gets a pension anymore but collective bargaining should be allowed. Also if you work at a union shop and walk in as a rat, you should be squashed as the rat you are.
hey...why don't you direct this question to all the happy employees in the Southern states who are enjoying having good paying jobs, with benefits, with overtime...blah balh and not having to share a dime with a union. By the way the rich people you are referring to are stockholders! And yes we do expect to see profits...that why we invest...
If you do not like the pay scale, don't work there.
If you don't want to work for the "Man" who is holding you down, start your own business and beat the the "Man" with better quality and lower prices. How about opening a retail outlet and sell only products made/supplied/shipped/sold by UNION workers. POWER to the PEOPLE. Union sympathetic shoppers would make you a millionaire and put the big box non-union retailers out of business in 6 months. WORKERS UNITE in PARADISE ! Oh wait, you could not be a millionaire as that would make you what you despise....success leading to UNFAIR income disparity between you, the owner who put everything at risk and the hourly worker who risks nothing other than the drive to work if they feel the need. Be a non profit, all income split evenly among all the comrades. Owner makes the same as the janitor/clerk/driver/accountant/lawyer and doctor. WORKERS HEAVEN NOW and FOREVER
Read my response below
Ever heard of the "Davis Bacon Act"? It was implemented years ago to make sure that Non-Union members get the same pay as union members on government funded work. I have been in the flooring construction field for 25 years now and have never seen wages rates so high. Right now as of today ceramic installers in Massachusetts receive $75.20 per hour!! Carpet installers are over $59.00!! No longer are the Non-Union shops able to compete!! The system is broke and so will the rest of us if this is allowed to continue!! The stupid thing is, our Non-Union wokers get the same pay, but no union benefits.
It is absurd for a tile setter to make $75 an hour and the one who gets hurt is the homeowner trying to scrap enough money together to remodel their home. Anyone on this blog who would hire a person to do work in or around their house would shop around and compare prices for labor so how is it ever fair for a company to be forced to pay a certain wage? In that case, it's the consumer who gets shafted....again!
Yeah the nonunion guys make less and work looks like what the get paid CR*P.
Be aware, typically these rates are on state and government funded jobs. The average home owner is typically not subjected to these rates, unless it is housing for the elderly or homeless. Remember also, there is a wage rate for ever conceivable trade, painters to pavers.
Crushedu. Our installers frequently make $1,000,00 per week, with company trucks, and full benefits. And don't have to be subjected to union dues, rules and useless strikes. Plus, there are a lot of states where the unions are not welcome, just so happens mine is one of the ones that feels union thugs are not welcome!
I have to confess I dumped a software job paying $60.00 an hour to go back into Carpet where I make some $140 an hour on average doing work no one else knows how to do or does not want to do. OK, I only work 3 hours a day but...
No union, no BS, no cubicle!
The right to work law is designed to uphold the concept of freedom. If someone wants to hire you and you agree to work, then a contract is signed. If, however, that person HAS to join a third party group and give them money to work for the person that is going to pay money for the work, then it is a violation of freedom.
No third party should be between the employer and the employee...including the Federal or State governments.
First off, Obama is an idiot and he has no business interfering with state legislation. Secondly, the idea that an employee should have the "right" to bargain or "hold hostage" their employer for higher pay is ridiculous. How about taking some night classes, learning a new skill or improving yourself so you will be more valuable to any company? Companies should pay the prevailing wage based on the job market, skills available and the needs of the company. If you want to succeed in life, you have to do more than "join a union".
obama is an ass....explains everything wrong in this once great nation......
And you really think if you work hard employers will just automatically give you what you deserve? LOL
Employers WILL indeed give you what you are worth. Get a valuable skill and see what they are willing to pay. Remain a stupid Union worker and that is not much on the free market!
First off - President Obama is not an idiot and Coorporations have no RIGHT to meddle with STATE LAWS - BUT they do!
Do you know where the idea of changing to RTW came from?
None other that the coorporate fueled ALEC who WROTE the LEGISLATION for them.
So it's ok in your book for coopanies to write laws that you have no say in and your electd representatives don't follow the will of the people?
Less than 20% well below the majority of the population of MI wants it.
Arm yourselves with some facts for once - you may change your tune.
My guess is Obama doesn't like the right-to-work legislation; Michigan is a BIG union state without much of an economy left, Detroit is bankrupt, but unions were big-time supporters of Obama in 2008 and 2012. Who knows? Maybe Obama and the unions can pull Michigan up from its bootstraps and become the auto center of the world again. I doubt that will happen.... Detroit isn't the center of anything today and I can't think of a state with stronger unions than Michigan.
Detroit will be made whole and beautiful again via the U S taxpayers, aka Washington/Government. Too much is owed to the comrades in Detroit by the Democrat ruling elite. Workers Unite!
just like this ass president and congress, unions no longer really represent the interests of their members......most union bosses are only looking out for their own sorry asses..........obama is such an utter douchebag.......
Obama will campaign for the next 2 yrs. He is looking for every way possible to turn the country against the republicans in the house. He wants a democrat house so he can get his true agenda going which is to destroy the economy.
George Soros is waiting for the collapse.
obama has to be obstructed and opposed at every opportunity........he is a poison to the body politic....he is turning americans on each other which is much more dangerous than playing with fire......
hey obama???.....the election is over....you can stop pandering now and try to be a leader.....i ain't holding my breath......
Not a chance! Obama was voted in by an illiterate minority voter population that has babies at 5 times the rate of Americans. I agree the Republican party is done, but by the same token so in America. Not sure what emerges but I feel it will look a LOT like Mexico in terns of opportunity, security and income!