Hire Michigan First Secures Michigan Jobs for Michigan Workers

by: Glenn Anderson

Fri May 08, 2009 at 15:25:29 PM EDT

Yesterday in the Michigan Senate we celebrated a long-awaited victory for Michigan workers in the passage of a portion of the Hire Michigan First legislative package. In a time of economic downturn, with unemployment rates soaring, giving Michigan workers priority for jobs created with Michigan taxpayer dollars is the right thing to do. It sends the message that we will not let our state fail, and that we have faith in Michigan families to survive this difficult time and come out on top.

Our state has thousands of talented workers who have been displaced due to the loss of manufacturing jobs. We have instituted programs to train these workers for new, in-demand fields such as renewable energy, but these workers cannot succeed if there aren’t jobs available for them when they finish. The same goes for new college graduates, who are ready and willing to work but will leave the state if they can’t find employment.

Democrats recognized the importance of this legislation years ago, and I’ve been working to pass it every chance I get. However, until this week, these bills had not even been given a committee hearing. We have been relentless in our fight for Michigan workers, with several efforts to move these bills, repeated calls for action, and town hall meetings around the state. A few examples of our ongoing activity on behalf of Hire Michigan First include:

We reintroduced the bills in the Senate in February: http://www.senate.mi.gov/dem/pr.php?id=1211.

I spoke on the Senate floor about this issue in early March, around the time the House passed these bills, once again encouraging action to help Michigan workers. You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26wlvu05Ono&feature=channel_page.

 Senate Democrats fought to bring these bills to the floor again in April: http://www.senate.mi.gov/dem/pr.php?id=1278.

We also started a Cause page on Facebook for Hire Michigan First earlier this year. It has over 1,100 members, and is growing by the day. You can join to show your support here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/235147/41930933?m=6d54c0aa.

This is just a sampling of the work we’ve done to make sure Michigan workers are given priority for Michigan jobs. And yesterday, we not only stood in support of this legislation to put Michigan workers first. We also fought for fair wages for those workers and sought to close loopholes in the legislation created by Senate Republicans that would make it easier for companies to hire out-of-state workers. You can read our press release on it here: http://www.senate.mi.gov/dem/pr.php?id=1316.

Michigan residents should be able to see their tax dollars working to create jobs with companies that will hire Michigan workers and not outsource jobs to out-of-state or overseas workers. In addition to the jobs created directly by the Hire Michigan First initiative, those put to work will spend their paychecks in local grocers, restaurants, and businesses creating an important multiplier effect for local economies. This has been a long journey, and there are still pieces of the original bill package that have not been passed. I remain as committed to our state’s workforce as ever and will continue to work on this issue until it’s finished. The hardworking people of this state are the backbone of our economy, and now more than ever, we need to stand up for them. Whether its construction projects or manufactured products, it’s simply not good enough to say “Made in Michigan,” but we must demand they’re “Made by Michigan.”