Incumbent Joan Bauer

Unions. Joan Bauer supports and is supported by organized labor. I, on the other hand, believe unions are a bad idea and always have been. I blame unions for the destruction of manufacturing in Michigan. Since mid-2000, 400,000 jobs have been lost in Michigan, 70 percent of them in manufacturing (U. of M. News Service, 11/16/07). Michigan has the nation's highest unemployment rate at 8.5%. The national rate is 5.5%.

With the threat of strike, unions force employers to pay wages and benefits much higher than is necessary to attract qualified workers. This forces the company to raise prices on its product, putting it at a disadvantage with competitors and taking money out of the pockets of loyal customers.

Without unions, workers would be paid at a lower rate - the market rate - allowing companies to lower prices. Production would have to be increased to keep up with increased sales. More workers would have to be hired. More people working means more people paying taxes and less receiving unemployment compensation and welfare. Tax rates would go down along with prices. The average disposable income for Michigan residents would go up.

Production and income are two ways of looking at the same thing: when production increases, income increases.

I realize that Democrats aren't supposed to be against unions, but I'm too liberal to be a Republican, the party that has given us 8 years of George W. Bush. I think Democrats are wrong on the union issue, their ability to reason weakened by the money unions contribute to Democratic candidates. Being against unions and for a free, open labor market is the proper liberal position. An open labor market provides the most good for the most people.

In her 2006 campaign, Joan Bauer received contributions from a wide variety of organizations, but the UAW and the MEA were among the top five at $2500 and $2000 respectively. Other union contributors were the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 333 of Lansing at $1000, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers/IBEW-COPE of Washington D.C. at $500, and the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union at $300. Her campaign website boasts of union endorsements and quotes Paul Hufnagel, President of the Greater Lansing Labor Council, as saying Bauer "has the experience and vision to continue fighting for labor-friendly policies."

Comparable worth. I also strongly disagree with a "comparable worth" bill introduced by Joan Bauer in 2007. House Bill 4625, which was passed by the House 4/22/08, would make it a civil rights violation if an employer fails to

"Employees who play by the rules deserve to be compensated fairly - and when women make less than their male counterparts for doing the same work, it hurts us all," Rep. Joan Bauer said in a statement according to a 4/24/07 article in the Lansing State Journal.

It was already a violation to compensate employees in the same job differently because of religion, race, etc. House Bill 4625 extends the violation to employees working in different jobs. To develop definitions of comparable wages, House Bill 4627 would establish a Commission on Pay Equity (the following is from a summary by the House Legislative Analysis Section):

The governor would appoint the commission, which would be composed of the directors of the Department of Civil Rights and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), as well as one representative each of the Michigan Women's Commission, the Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, the UAW, the Small Business Association, the National Organization of Women (Michigan), and the Michigan Women's Studies Association. The director of the Department of Civil Rights, or a designee, would serve as the chair of the commission.

(As passed by the House 2/12/08, the bill adds a representative of the Michigan Farm Bureau to the commission.)

The penalty for violations (provided in companion House Bill 4626) is imprisonment for not more than 90 days and/or a fine that varies with the number of employees:

1 to 15 employees, up to $500
16 to 50 employees, up to $1,000
more than 50 employees, up to $2,000

Imagine, if you will, someone who is trying to decide whether to start a business in Michigan or in another state. He is already concerned about Michigan's strong union tradition and union shop law. Then he sees that even if he manages to escape unionization, if he pays his employees different rates for different jobs, he may be required to justify the difference on the basis of composite skill, responsibility, effort, education or training, and working conditions. He will have the government telling him what to pay his employees. And if he refuses, he could go to jail.

I agree that employees doing the same job for the same employer should be paid the same rate, but rates for different jobs must be the employer's decision.

House Bill 4627, which sets up the Commission on Pay Equity, was introduced by Kathleen Law with Joan Bauer and several others listed as co-sponsors. "Comparable worth" is a bad idea to start with, but House Bill 4627 is just badly-written legislation. It states that the Commission is "responsible for the development of definitions of comparable wages." It might be just a typo, but don't they mean "responsible for the development of definitions of work of comparable value"? Defining work of comparable value is going to be difficult. Comparing wages should be pretty straightforward.

And shouldn't the lawmakers be the ones to come up with these definitions? It was their idea - aren't they shirking their responsibility by creating a commission do it?

Let's look again at the makeup of the Commission on Pay Equity. It is composed of the directors of the Department of Civil Rights and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), as well as one representative from each of the following organizations:

Michigan Women's Commission
Chamber of Commerce
AFL-CIO
UAW
Small Business Association
National Organization of Women (Michigan)
Michigan Women's Studies Association
Michigan Farm Bureau

Doesn't it seem that women are over-represented? And don't you think the representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Association and Farm Bureau would rather be horse-whipped than attend meetings "as necessary" for as long as a year to help "develop definitions, models, and guidelines for employers and employees on pay equity"?

Although I reject the concept of "comparable wage", I do believe that employees doing the same job for the same employer should be paid at the same rate. I also believe that workers should feel free to discuss their salaries between themselves. See Employees Can Talk About Their Salaries.