Economic Education

RTW states vs. Non-RTW states ... Just saying ...
¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

" ?.. This is about freedom to chose, and workers should have the option - if they are seeing value then they should be excited to join a union and they should join. If they see no value, why should they put financial sources to do something that has no value to them? So that's a big part of it, for standing up for workers ..."
Gov. Rick Snyder (R-MI), explaining why he signed bill into law
11DEC2012

¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
RTW = do not need to pay union dues or join union to get job
NRTW = must pay union dues even if not in union to get job if union is present

Indiana (RTW) = +13,900 after becoming RTW
Michigan (NRTW) = -7,000 jobs during same time period

Unemployment rates
RTW = 6.9%
NRTW = 7.6%
bureau of labor statistics

Average Annual Earnings
RTW = $42,465
NRTW = $49,495
bureau of labor statistics

"Teachers, Nurses, Firefighters all of the people who are union members recognize that a union is the way and when everyone invests in that union it can be even more powerful advocate for people"
Alicia Omens (asked what was wrong with people opting out paying for dues)
Communications Director
AFL-CIO

actually the anchor for FoxNews, Martha MacCullum, goofed up on the wage statistic and said RTW states had higher wages when stats showed they did not ... I think what she meant to say was that RTW states have wages that rise in better accordance with the "cost of living" index than NRTW states. Even the Union rep interviewed admitted that it is a $1500 difference in favor of workers in RTW states (and that's the unions numbers).

And while that has been shown to be true, we all have to agrees that the COL index is outdated with what they use as a guideline (bread/milk costs) and need to be modernized (gas/utilities/groceries)

::-::-::-::-::-::
Update to the protests yesterday in MI -- turns out the reporter that was involved was a Fox News reporter - but don't know if he was from the big network or from the local affiliate.