Battle Creek chooses jobs over unions

Did you feel the economic tremor in Battle Creek this week?

There’s growing buzz in Michigan over the state’s long and storied labor history (we should, indeed, thank unions for bringing us paid vacations and the concept of a weekend). Does the state’s strong labor climate drive away potential new business? Or, is that a straw-man argument from anti-labor types who chafe at unions’ dogged protection of the average worker’s ability to make a decent living in a dog-eat-dog world? Do private sector union workers have it tougher than public sector union workers? Should Michigan be a Right to Work state?

Rarely has all that debate morphed into the kind of clear choice faced this week by the the Battle Creek City Commission.  They had an either-or proposition…

Waive the city’s prevailing wage law and anger a strong contingent of local union workers.

Or…

Lose a new manufacturing plant and its promise of 350 new jobs.

The commissioners chose the jobs.

The path to that decision ilustrates the nuanced and changing economic development relationships as Michigan seeks to diversify beyond its traditional Big Three auto culture.

For starters, the Granholm Administration, always backed by Big Labor, pushed the deal for Battle Creek’s new United Solar Ovonics solar energy manufacturing plant. The state granted a 20-year, $17.3 million tax break to keep United Solar Ovonics from building the plant in competing states. “We look forward to a continuing partnership with them as we work to diversify our economy and create new energy jobs,” Granholm said in announcing the deal. Michigan Economic Development Corp President Jim Epolito added that the deal “validates our aggressive economic strategy and sends a clear signal to the rest of the world that Michigan is a great state to do business in.”

When the deal got to Battle Creek City Hall, the company got more local tax breaks but the concern was that United Solar Ovonic would pay almost, but not quite, the full prevailing wage of $16 per hour. Union leaders wanted the commission to hold tight to its prevailing wage law and require United Solar to pay workers more and protect union contractors from losing plant construction work to outsiders.

Dave Adams, a retired union worker, confronted United Solar officials at a packed city commission meeting, as reported in the Battle Creek Enquirer. “When is enough enough?” Adams asked. “The city has bent over backwards to give you breaks. When is enough, enough?

Some sought a compromise or a delay in the vote. United Solar Vice President John Morgan promised a swift retreat right back out of Battle Creek to a more hospitable location. So, the commission approved the tax breaks and prevailing wage waiver. ”We are the only true U.S.-based solar company in the world and it was important to us to invest in Michigan,” Morgan told the Enquirer. “Four years ago, we grew from $23 million to $500 million in sales and we have added 1,800 jobs in Michigan. But we have to be fiercely competitive in a global market.”

Both the Granholm Administration and Battle Creek commissioners chose the promise of new jobs over the pleas of labor for higher paying jobs.