Scholarship Recipients
Thanks to all who applied for the Local 730, UAW Active and Retired Members Scholarships; there were 16 applicants this year. The two winners for the 2008 Scholarships are: Brandi Tiemeyer (granddaughter of Bryan Hobrow) and Tyler Veneman (son of Benefit Rep Lauri Veneman). Congratulations and best of luck to you!
We would like to share the following quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as, the essays that were submitted by this year’s recipients.
“In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right to work’. It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone…. Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer, and there are no civil rights. We do not intend to let them do this to us. We demand this fraud be stopped. Our weapon is our vote.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1961)
Right-to-Work and Its Impact on Healthcare, by Brandi Tiemeyer, Bryan Hobrow’s Grandaughter.
I would like to address some of the issues involving the availability of healthcare and services in a Free Bargaining state, as against any Right-to-Work state. As a resident of the State of Michigan, we are fortunate to be a Free Bargaining State. Any business or industry with UAW unions, are more than blessed to have benefits for workers and their families, which include health practices and health services.
As a Free Bargaining state, its residents are more likely to be relatively healthier than a Right to Work state. Eight of the current ten states with the highest population health rankings were free bargaining states. In 13 of the 22 Right-to-Work states scored below the nation’s average in health rankings.
In a Free Bargaining state, residents are more likely to have health insurance where union members have negotiated health coverage. The lowest percentage of people without health coverage are in eight of the Right-to-Work states.
On average, residents of free bargaining states, where more citizens are union members with union negotiated healthcare coverage, have a 5% higher rate of overall individual healthcare insurance than Right-to-Work states.
Infant mortality rates are associated with poverty, poor nutrition, and lack of access to prenatal healthcare services. According to recent health statistics, babies born in Free Bargaining states have a better chance of survival than those born in Right-to-Work states. Of the ten states with the best infant mortality, eight are Free Bargaining states.
We are currently being challenged by Right-to-Work. We must do everything in our power to stop this law.
In the profession I am choosing, if Right-to-Work becomes law, it could have a negative effect on the quality of care I will be able to provide to my patients.
The Negative Affect of a Right-to-Work State, by Tyler Veneman, Benefit Rep Lauri Veneman’s son.
The ongoing downslide of Michigan’s economy has forced the state legislature to seek alternative methods to positively reform state economy. Forcing Michigan to become a Right-to-Work (RTW) for Less state is not the answer for reform and would have negative effects on my current and future living.
I worked for the DTE Energy Mich Con International Chemical Workers Union (ICWU) Local 132 Summer Student Program and plan to again in 2008. This program was created by the union as a benefit for its members. The program keeps the company in a family setting and enables the college students to stay out of their family member’s pocketbooks. If a RTW state would be passed, Local 132 would be split up, there would be tension in the divided working environment, and I would be jobless for the summer.
Becoming a RTW state would also force the jobs in Michigan to become more globalized. As good paying Michigan jobs continue to become harder to find, the last thing our state needs is to give good companies a reason to stray away from Michigan. If a RTW state was enacted, it would perceive Michigan as “a house divided against itself” and persuade employers to choose other states or countries as its groundings. When fewer good jobs are in my home state of Michigan, a lower quality of life is forced upon everyone as others become poor and jobless.
As I pursue a career in engineering, I feel inclined to find a job where all employees are treated fairly with the help of union representation. The creation of a Right-to-Work for Less state would decrease the chances of finding jobs that provide engineers with healthcare, pension, and short term disability benefits which would negatively affect my future employment and living conditions.