Granholm pledges 'new era of economic development'

In a bygone era, Labor Day was the traditional kickoff day for major political campaigns in Michigan and across the nation.

Today, of course, campaigns start months earlier, and the first Monday in September has become another day on the campaign trail for candidates. So it was this year with Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm, who spent that holiday morning by making the annual walk over the Mackinaw Bridge, then flying to Detroit in time for the start of the Labor Day Parade.

At the same time, Labor Day was a day of celebrating labor's solidarity in Michigan, with parades, speeches and picnics in Detroit, Marquette, Muskegon and Grand Rapids.

Granholm didn't have a formal opportunity to talk to the building trades on Labor Day, but did the next day during a tour of the $350 million Compuware Building under construction in Detroit.

She said she chose the building to outline her economic plan because it is "a high-tech location," and a great example of what the trades are capable of building.

"Compuware is only the beginning," Granholm said. "Our plan will create more high-tech, high-wage jobs in Michigan, diversifying our state's economy and ensuring family security. We will usher in a new era of economic development that centers on high-tech, high-wage jobs. We will work with the small business community to help them plant the seed and grow. We will work with labor -and with business - to make sure that jobs are retained and that new ones come to Michigan."

Labor Day 2002 came at a time when enormous changes are taking place in Michigan. A generation of young construction workers who thought the state's building boom would last forever are now sitting on the bench. The best that the state's Republican lawmakers could do for them last spring was to increase jobless benefits by $42, to $342 per week. Nationwide, unemployment has risen from 4.2 percent in January 2001 to 5.9 percent today.

Deficits are back in the state and federal economies. The stock market is way in the tank. Americans are outraged at corporate accounting scandals and the fact that CEO pay is still way out of whack: median CEO pay in the U.S. - not counting stock options and other corporate benefits - grew 69 percent from 1992-2000, while median hourly pay for workers grew 5.9 percent, according to the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute.

Granholm's plan includes a high technology corridor to build on the ongoing life sciences research at the state's universities, a regional skills alliance that makes partners of labor, business and colleges to provide worker training and re-training, and improve infrastructure through a "Fix-It-First, Fix It Right" program for road and bridge construction.

For organized labor, as important as any plan is Granholm's pledge to give organized labor "a voice at the table" in her administration, and turn to labor "for input on critical issues."

Peter Karmanos, who was on hand for the Granholm tour, said "it's exciting to have a candidate for governor focus on high-tech job creation, and listen to what business leaders say about the economy and business activity."