Saturday, March 24, 2007

"The Detroit Three"

In Saturday's Wall Street Journal, Terry Kosdrosky coined a new term that sums it up: "The Detroit Three". In the article "Glum Backdrop for UAW", The Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2007, Terry for the first time (that I've seen) redefines Chrysler, GM and Ford in a special automotive industry group. No longer are they the Big Three. Now these declining symbols of what's wrong with Michigan business are now known as "The Detroit Three".

Once again we stare at the problem: the UAW, but don't acknowledge the solution: right-to-work labor laws. For Michigan and its citizens, our problems continue to mount and we wallow in our own self-indignation. The members of the UAW somehow think they are responsible for the American middle class. That's just wrong. The American middle class is alive and well in high-growth states with low union involvement and right-to-work laws. Who's going to provide jobs in the future in Michigan? Not the UAW.

"The Detoit Three" is a terrible label and all three auto makers should make shedding this label their first priority. It's time for a dramatic break. It's time for a radical change. It's time for right-to-work laws to be legislated in Michigan.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Unions, Unions, Unions

In my last post, I criticized the Governor for not understanding how morbid Michigan's business economy has become. Oh sure, she's talking about our malaise, but she fails to understand that Michigan has NOT caught a cold that will eventually heal itself. Michigan has a cancer that can only be cured by radical surgery.

The most significant point I wanted to make was Governor Granholm's misplaced focus. I continue to argue that economic growth and prosperity must come first. An educated work force and all the other good things the Governor envisions for Michigan will follow growth. The Governor has nothing on her agenda for combating Michigan's anti-business environment. Central to Michigan's anti-business attitude is its labor laws and the UAW. For Michigan to return to prosperity, Michigan must do something radical. For Jennifer Granholm, this means she must take on a core constituent: labor.

Impeding Michigan's return to economic growth is its labor laws. During the late 1970's and early 1980's, many have said the Big Three lost their one true opportunity to combat the UAW and Michigan's labor laws. Many believe to this day, the Big Three should have bit the bullet and forced a cataclysmic crisis with labor in the early 1980's. Only then could the US auto industry hope to create the necessary economic profits to sustain itself and compete with more efficient foreign manufacturers. Well, the opportunity has returned again, and this is GM's and Ford's last chance. Unfortunately for Chrysler, it's too late.

It's time to take on labor. It's time to become a right to work state. It's time for GM and Ford to realize that the UAW must be severally weakened for all time. It's time and it's the last chance.

It's time to do more than fight over balancing the state budget. It's time for Republicans to force significant change, or force a crisis. It's time to connect Michigan's labor laws to the budget process. It time to stand up and fix our anti-business environment, or shut the government down.

Make Michigan competitive, it's time to force significant change to Michigan's labor laws.