LANSING - Gov. Jennifer Granholm collected an endorsement and commitments of campaign cash amounting to $144,500 from Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council (MBCTC) unions.

Paying a July 19 visit to the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 333 union hall, Granholm accepted the money, the endorsement of the MBCTC, and told the 100 union reps in attendance that the state is "only a signature away" from implementing a number of anti-union and anti-worker proposals.

"You need to arm your members with data," Granholm said. "Right now, all they're seeing is $10 million in data," referring to how much her opponent, Republican billionaire Richard DeVos, has spent on television and radio ads so far this year.

Organized labor fears that if he wins the gubernatorial election, DeVos would provide his signature on bills that would:

• Bring an end to worker-friendly MIOSHA reforms.
• Bring back a pro-business, anti-worker government.
• Rescind Michigan's prevailing wage law, or at least stop funding for it, as was done during the John Engler Administration. Engler probably never had the votes in the legislature to rescind prevailing wage - but he did the next best thing, which was to woefully under-fund the enforcement of the law. The Michigan Prevailing Wage Act is the single most important law on the state's books that upholds construction worker wages.
• Create a right-to-work law in Michigan. This is a major hot potato issue for DeVos, who would never pledge to support this union-killing law before an election. However, he will get pressure to do so from his supporters in the business community.

A Detroit News article said Richard's wife, Betsy DeVos, herself a major player in state Republican politics, "struck a raw nerve a couple of times when she said the state's economic woes stemmed from workers earning too much. She suggested Michigan would be better off as a right-to-work state, which means labor unions could not compel workers to join. Dick DeVos has distanced himself from those statements, and says he will not back right-to-work legislation."

The Michigan AFL-CIO thinks if DeVos gets into office he would back right-to-work legislation, and so does Granholm. The governor pointed out that she has been glad to use her veto pen - or the threat of a veto - to stop all kinds of anti-worker legislation.

DeVos' campaign has been short on specifics when it comes to his plans for turning around Michigan's economy. For example, his categorical position "on jobs," has bulleted items that call for killing the state Single Business Tax (it will expire in 2009 anyway, or sooner, if state legislators can find a way to make up for the revenue loss) and creating one-stop shopping for new jobs providers. That's an example of his lack of specifics provided by his campaign.

DeVos may more than double the $10 million he has spent so far on his campaign, while Granholm reportedly has about $6 million in her war chest. "Many have said why don't you get on the air and fight back," she said. "First, I am not a multi-billionaire with those kinds of resources," she said. "So we're saving our resources for the right time. We will enter the fight at a strategic moment."

Granholm pointed out several initiatives she has pushed through that help the state and the building trades specifically, including

• Jobs Today: A three-year plan that spends $3.5 billion on infrastructure and renovation projects, including the acceleration of $400 million in road and transportation projects. A total of about 7,000 jobs - the vast majority in construction - will be created. A local component of the plan provides grants to local governments to enable them to take advantage of federal grants for road and infrastructure improvements, creating an additional 7,100 jobs. "This is taking a page from FDR, using public works projects to put people back to work," Granholm said.
• The 21st Century Jobs Fund - The $400 million fund, established earlier this year, will help business leaders, researchers, and entrepreneurs conduct new research, develop new technology, and create new jobs in Michigan. The state is targeting the life sciences, advanced manufacturing, alternative energy or defense technology. Granholm pointed to the decision by Google to build a location in Ann Arbor as an example.
• Inheriting and eliminating a $4 billion state deficit, and juggling a chronic budget shortfall year after year - "yet we were able to protect things that people care about," Granholm said.

"I'm your backstop," Granholm told the union audience. "I've got your back. I put union people on state boards and commissions. My opponent will not. I opposed right to work. They will not. I enforce prevailing wage. They will not. I enforce state safety standards for workers. They will not. There's a choice in this election; there are two very different philosophies."

MIGHIGAN GOV. Jennifer Granholm spoke to an audience of building trades supporters in Lansing and picked up some hefty campaign contributions, too.