Detroit Workers
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has imposed new contract terms on most Detroit city workers. Sarah Cwiek reports:
Detroit’s consent agreement with the state allows for city officials to impose contract terms under certain conditions. Bing says it was a tough but necessary move. The new terms include a 10 percent wage cut and the possibility of even deeper cuts if the city deems that necessary. Furious city union leaders say they're still contemplating their next move. They’ve talked about going to court—and some have even brought up the possibility of a strike.
Capitol Protests
The Legislature’s only session day in July was a magnet that drew protesters to Lansing. “There were demonstrations to support the right of women to breast feed infants in public, and to commemorate the second anniversary of the Enbridge Energy oil spill into the Kalamazoo River. The biggest protest was about 150 people who showed up to oppose new limits on abortion providers that cleared the state House last month and are now before the state Senate. Singing and dancing broke out in the state House gallery by demonstrators who want to keep alive the controversy over the one-day silencing of two Democrats for comments made during a floor debate,” Rick Pluta reports.
Jobless Numbers
Michigan’s unemployment rate ticked up in June. “It’s the second month in a row that more people had trouble finding work in Michigan. The state’s unemployment rate stood at 8.6 percent in June, a tenth of a percentage point higher than it was in May. Michigan’s unemployment rate remains above the national average. But the state’s jobless rate is still lower now than it was a year ago when unemployment in Michigan stood at 10.6 percent. Michigan’s unemployment rate had fallen for nine straight months until May,” Steve Carmod reports.
