Karla Swift, President of the Michigan AFL-CIO delivers a heartfelt speech about how the rights of workers have been threatened, attacked, and dismantled due to pushes from the right to destroy the safety nets put in place to keep Michigan employees safe, healthy, and paid respectably for the hard work they put in each and every day on the job.

View the speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSVnqlv_soc

Source: UNEMPLOYEDWORKERS.ORG - LAID OFF AND LEFT OUT

December 8, 2011

There's no time to waste.  Congress is facing a year-end deadline to renew the federal unemployment insurance (UI) program -- and if Congress fails to act, nearly 2 million unemployed workers will be cut off of federal unemployment benefits in the month of January alone.  Millions more would be cut off in subsequent months -- more than 6 million during 2012.

We can't just sit back and wait.  It's time to pick up the phone and make our voices heard.

We've set up a special toll-free number at 888-245-3381 that will automatically connect you with Senator Deborah Stabenow and Senator Carl Levin and Representative Mike Rogers, so that you can tell them to renew federal unemployment insurance for 2012 now!

You can also use this easy Click-to-Call page on our website.  It gives you the information you need and a brief suggested message to deliver.

We have set a National Call-In Day for Thursday, December 8 to demand immediate action to renew unemployment insurance.

But there's no need to wait... you can start calling now!  Call today, call tomorrow!  We will keep the toll-free number up at 888-245-3381 and the easy Click-to-Call page up -- until Congress acts to renew this crucial unemployment insurance program for millions of unemployed job-seeking Americans.

Each time you call or click you'll have the choice to connect with either of your Senators or with Representative Mike Rogers -- so please call or click several times to be sure to contact all your Members of Congress.

In the past three years, federal unemployment insurance has helped more than 17 million Americans while they’ve looked for work in the toughest job market since the Great Depression.

Recent Census figures show that federal unemployment insurance helped keep more than 3 million from falling into poverty last year alone.

Allowing the federal UI program to expire would result in the loss of another half a million jobs -- and that is something we just cannot afford.

Congress has never allowed these programs to expire when unemployment was anywhere near this high for this long. Congress must act, and act now.

So call 888-245-3381 or Click-to-Call today -- and tomorrow as well for National Call-In Day on Thursday, December 8.  We're going to keep calling and making our voices heard until Congress wakes up and does the right thing for America's families and our economy -- Renew Unemployment Insurance Now!

Many thanks.

The UnemployedWorkers.Org Team

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57327969/gov-wins-major-tax-ruling-at-mich-supreme-court/

November 18, 2011 5:45 PM

Gov. wins major tax ruling at Mich. Supreme Court

(AP)  LANSING, Mich — Key parts of a Michigan law that taxes public pension income for the first time are constitutional, the state Supreme Court said Friday in a major victory for Gov. Rick Snyder.

Taxing some forms of pension income is a significant part of Snyder's strategy to change Michigan's tax structure and improve the business climate. But the plan, which also will make more private retirement income subject to tax, sparked protests at the Capitol this year — especially by public employee unions that opposed it.

Snyder, a Republican, had asked the Supreme Court, which has a GOP majority, to review the tax's legality in an effort to trump any challenges in lower courts. The law is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

The court ruled 4-3 on the major issues at stake. Republican justices said reducing or eliminating the statutory exemption for public pension incomes did not violate the constitution. The court also said that determining eligibility for income tax exemptions on the basis of when a person was born was not illegal.

"If the ratifiers of the Constitution had intended to limit the Legislature's authority to tax pensions in the same manner as all other forms of income, they would have expressly said so," Justice Stephen Markman wrote.

But there is at least one sticking point that Snyder and lawmakers will have to address. The court unanimously said that determining eligibility for income tax exemptions and deductions on the basis of total household resources created a type of graduated tax, which is illegal. Under the ruling, wealthier taxpayers won't lose deductions on total income that would have been phased out under the new law.

The court said that portion of the law could be addressed without affecting the rest of the law's legality.

Before the court decision, state officials had predicted the law would generate as much as $330 million in 2013.

A statement from the Snyder administration said changes from the ruling could create an estimated $60 million shortfall for the state's 2012 fiscal year budget. But Snyder said he was "pleased" overall with the court's ruling.

"Our administration has been unwavering in its position that the removal of the public pension income tax exemption was the right and prudent thing to do," Snyder said in a statement. "It will provide for the long-term structural stability of the state's budget while minimizing the impact on current retirees and seniors. This will help get Michigan's fiscal house in order and economy back on track."

Opponents of the law say it will reduce the pension income that public-sector employees have already earned. They also say the tax violates public workers' constitutional right to not have their contracts impaired.

The AARP of Michigan said in a statement Friday that it wants the Legislature to repeal the "unfair and unpopular tax on public and private pensions." The Michigan AFL-CIO said the ruling is "a partisan decision that will hurt Michigan seniors, and is yet another example of the misplaced priorities of Lansing politicians."

It was not immediately known what legal steps opponents might take next.

Under the new law, residents born before 1946 would continue to get the same tax breaks they have now, but younger retirees would have some retirement income taxed, depending on when they were born.

Chief Justice Robert Young Jr., along with Justices Mary Beth Kelly and Brian Zahra, joined Markman in the majority opinion.

Justices Michael Cavanagh and Marilyn Kelly dissented in part and concurred in part. Justice Diane Hathaway dissented, although she agreed the income-based criteria for determining tax liability created a graduated income tax.

Take Action on Thursday, December 8, 2011

Brothers and Sisters, 

Unless Congress acts now, the lifeline for nearly 2 million U.S. workers is going to be cut off December 31 as unemployment insurance benefits expire. Here in Michigan, 66,700 will be shut out in the cold. We can't let this happen. Our representatives need to work for the 99% here in Michigan. We've paid the price too long for policies that only help the 1% that crashed our economy. 

That's why across Michigan, we'll be speaking out at the offices of our elected leaders. In Muskegon, Lansing, Shelby Township, Grand Rapids, Jackson and Marquette, union members and retirees will join students and seniors, standing up for the thousands at risk of losing everything this winter. 

Unemployment insurance isn't that much-at around $291.00 a week, it doesn't replace a middle class paycheck-but it is the lifeline keeping millions of American workers in their homes. These dollars are pumped back into our local economy immediately, spent in local grocery stores and gas stations, paid to utilities and landlords.

In Michigan, the loss to communities could equal $19,420,372. Nationwide, the economy grows by $2 for every dollar spent on unemployment insurance. Jobless workers and small businesses will be hit hard this winter if unemployment benefits expire, another long winter of home foreclosures and hardship unless Congress acts now. 

For more information on the impact on Michigan's working families and to share your story, go to http://uistories.aflcio.org/mi.

Join us Thursday, December 8. And call your Representative at (202) 224-3121 and urge support for jobless Michigan workers. 

In unity,