A BETTER MICHIGAN

FOR EVERYONE
A POLICY PLATFORM
A BETTER MICHIGAN FOR EVERYONE
FOR MICHIGAN’S WORKING FAMILIES
1 MICHIGAN AFL-CIO POLICY PLATFORM
PROTECTING OUR

FREEDOM

TO JOIN TOGETHER

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

From the President 4

Protecting the Rights of All Working People 5
Building Quality Infrastructure 8
Growing Vibrant Communities 11
Creating a Fair Economy 15
Protecting Our Voting Freedoms and Strengthening Our Democracy 18

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 From the President
I
n Michigan, we value our
families, our freedom,
and hard work. Working
people are the backbone
of our state, and we deserve the
freedom to negotiate together
for a fair return on our work so
we can provide a better life for
“

 our families.
We need the
power in But right now, elected officials
like Donald Trump, Rick Snyder,
numbers of Bill Schuette, and Brian Calley
are rigging the rules of our
unions more economy to favor their wealthy
than ever to corporate donors, and taking
away the freedoms people in
fight for our unions have won for all of us.
rights and elect It doesn’t have to be this way.
We need the power in numbers
leaders who of unions more than ever to
will have our fight for our rights and elect
leaders who will have our backs.
backs. By standing together and
making our voices heard, we
can protect the things our
families need and build a better
Michigan for all of us: with
better schools, better roads, and
better jobs.
This policy platform outlines the
top economic and legislative
priorities of the Michigan AFL-
CIO and our 42 affiliates, which
represent more than one million
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active and retired union
members across Michigan. Our
goal is to build power for
working people in Lansing and
communities all over the state.
Moving forward, our platform
will guide all aspects of the state
labor federation’s organizing,
legislative advocacy, and
electoral work. We will require
all candidates seeking our
endorsement to affirm their
support for these priorities –
and our platform will help shape
our legislative scorecard, which
will be used to educate our
members about their
lawmakers’ voting records in
Lansing.
Michigan has so much great
work to be done: roads to be
paved, kids to be taught, and
energy to be generated. Now is
the time for all working people
to stand together so we can
build an economy that works for
everyone – not just the wealthy
and powerful.
Ron Bieber

President

 Protecting the Rights of All
Working People
“Public employees and all working people deserve
the same freedom that wealthy CEOs have: the
freedom to negotiate a fair return on our work so
we can provide for our families and build stronger
communities.”
—Lawrence A. Roehrig, President, AFSCME Council 25


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THE PROBLEM
All work has dignity and all working people have
rights. But right now billionaires and wealthy
corporations are rigging the rules of our economy
and taking away our freedom to negotiate together
in union for things our families need, like: good-
paying jobs, great schools, clean and safe
environments, and affordable health care.
Since 2011, Governor Rick Snyder and Republicans
in Lansing have passed countless laws like the
Emergency Manager Act and “right-to-work,” which
were designed to take away rights from working
people. Now there are far too many people in
Michigan living paycheck to paycheck, working
unreliable hours, with few or no benefits, and
without a secure retirement.
THE SOLUTION
In Michigan, families should always come first.
Whether it’s a newborn baby, your elderly mom, or
work to remove these restrictions on collective
bargaining, and restore the freedom to pay union
dues and contribute to political action committees
through automatic payroll deduction.
Repeal “right-to-work” laws that take away our
freedom to join together and negotiate for a fair
return on our work. We should pass Fair Share
legislation for both public and private sector
workers, which would require all employees
covered under a collective bargaining unit to pay
their fair share towards contract administration,
grievance processing, and other representational
costs.
Ensure healthy and safe workplaces for all
working people. Michigan had 96,000 workplace-
related injuries and illnesses in 2015, and an
average penalty of just $763 for OSHA violations,
which ranks 48th-lowest in the country. Right now
there are just
56 OSHA

“
a spouse who’s sick, everyone knows being there inspectors in
and providing for your family isn’t optional. Michigan All working
who are
All working people should have a fair shot at the
responsible for people should
American dream, with the freedom to negotiate
enforcing workplace
together in union for better jobs with strong have a fair shot
health and safety laws
paychecks, good benefits, a secure retirement, and
more time to be with family. Because real freedom
that protect 4.2 at the
million workers in the
is about more than making a living – it’s also about
state. At the current American
having time to take a loved one to the doctor when
rate, it would take
they get sick, attend a parent-teacher conference dream, with
these 56 inspectors
for your kids, and retire in dignity.
51 years to inspect the freedom to
each work site in
OUR PRIORITIES Michigan just one negotiate
Guarantee our freedom to come together in time.
union to negotiate with our employers for strong
together.
paychecks, good benefits, safe workplaces, and a Everyone deserves a
secure retirement. Since 2011, Governor Snyder safe place to work. It’s time for the federal
and corporate lobbyists have worked nonstop to government and the state of Michigan to make
take away rights from working people. We must workplace health and safety laws a top priority. We

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should work to meet the standard established by It’s time for Michigan to restore the six weeks of
the International Labour Organization of one benefits that were cut by Governor Snyder, and fix
health and safety inspector per 10,000 workers, for the UIA by passing legislation that: prevents these
a total of 416 inspectors in Michigan. mistakes from happening again, fully repays victims
the money they are owed with interest, and creates
The legislature should also take action to combat stronger penalties for corporations that fail to pay
sexual harassment and sexual assault in the their unemployment taxes in a timely fashion.
workplace by passing legislation that requires
employers to provide training to prevent sexual Eliminate “phantom wages” in worker
harassment, and ensures survivors can access the compensation. Worker compensation laws were
counseling, advocacy, and medical support they created to help working people who get hurt or
need without unnecessary obstacles. become ill on the job so they can continue to
support their families. But in
Restore unemployment 2011, Governor Snyder and
benefit cuts and fix Republicans in the legislature
Michigan’s Unemployment passed Public Act 266, which
Insurance Agency. allows employers and their
Unemployment benefits exist insurance companies to
to help workers who have arbitrarily reduce worker
lost a job through no fault of compensation benefits by
their own continue to pay the amount of wages they
their bills and support their think the injured worker
families while they look for should be able to earn –
work. But in 2011, Governor regardless of whether they
Snyder and Lansing actually have the job or earn
Gov. Snyder cut six weeks of
Republicans passed the wages. The average
unemployment benefits for
legislation to take Michigan workers worker compensation benefit
unemployment benefits is just $416 a week, and the
away from working people, average duration of benefits is
reducing the maximum number of weeks of state 13 weeks. For seriously injured workers with
unemployment insurance benefits from 26 to 20 lifelong disabilities, the use of “Phantom Wages”
weeks. could eliminate their worker compensation
benefits altogether, and force them to rely on
Snyder’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA)
taxpayer-funded social services to survive.
also adopted a faulty computer system, which
falsely accused tens of thousands of people of We must pass legislation to change Michigan’s
committing unemployment fraud. The state worker compensation law to eliminate the ability of
garnished wages and seized income tax returns, employers and their insurance companies to use
forcing people into bankruptcy and tearing families “Phantom Wages” to cut injured worker benefits.
apart.

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 Building Quality Infrastructure
“Michigan families need good roads to take our
kids to school and get to work safely without
blowing a tire or busting an axle. It’s time to fix
the damn roads!”
—Patrick Devlin, Secretary-Treasurer, Michigan Building
and Construction Trades Council

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THE PROBLEM
Michigan is the state that put the
world on wheels. But after years of
neglect, we now have some of the
worst roads in the country. Governor
Snyder and Republicans in Lansing
passed a roads package that raised
taxes on working families and making
it more expensive to own a car, while
asking corporations to pay nothing.
Now our roads and bridges are more
dangerous than ever – costing
Michigan motorists $2.5 billion a year
in extra vehicle repairs and operating
costs.

THE SOLUTION
Rebuilding our infrastructure will jumpstart our
economy and create thousands of good-paying
jobs for working people right here in Michigan. We
need real solutions to fix our crumbling roads and
bridges without forcing regular families to foot the
bill for everything. It’s time for wealthy corporations
to start paying their fair share to fix the roads, and
we need to protect prevailing wage to ensure our
roads are built by well-trained Michigan
construction workers.
OUR PRIORITIES
Rebuild Michigan’s crumbling roads and
bridges. Michigan families need good roads to
take our kids to school and get to work safely
without blowing a tire or busting an axle. To make it
happen, we must develop a bipartisan road
funding solution that requires corporations that
were given a $2 billion tax break by Governor
Snyder – and benefit from our roads – to pay their
fair share to repair them, without forcing regular
families to foot the bill for everything. Any road
plan must also include strong and enforceable
warranties, to protect taxpayers and ensure our
roads stay fixed.
We also need our governor to start working with
Republicans and Democrats from Michigan’s
congressional delegation to end Michigan’s status
as a donor state, and bring more of our tax dollars
back home to Michigan to help fix our roads and
bridges.
Grow and develop a highly-skilled workforce.
To fix our crumbling roads and bridges, Michigan
needs a workforce that has the skills to get the job
done right: on-time and on-budget. The training
and apprenticeship programs offered through
Michigan’s Building Trades unions offer our young
people an opportunity to get the skills they need to
compete for good jobs with fair pay and benefits,
and without any student debt. Instead of attacking
Building Trades unions – which provide these vital
training programs at no cost to taxpayers – the
state should treat them as partners, by working to
link career and technical education and job

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training to middle and high school students and
employers.
Protect Prevailing Wage. The skilled trades are
crucial to Michigan’s economy. We need high-
quality construction work done safely by well-
trained workers. Prevailing wage laws mean hiring
quality workers who are Michigan residents instead
of hiring unskilled workers from out-of-state.
Michigan’s prevailing wage law also increases
competition for public construction projects,
ensuring taxpayers get the best deal.
But right now billionaires like Dick DeVos are
leading an effort to repeal prevailing wage, which
would cut the pay of working skilled trades men
and women in our state – and that includes many
veterans, who are more likely to work in skilled
construction jobs. If we cut the pay of skilled
workers in our state, this will take food off of their
tables and cause them to leave
Michigan. Prevailing wage is
good for Michigan, good for
small business, and good for
our economy – and we must
work together to protect it.
Modernize our underground
“ Prevailing
wage is good
for Michigan,
infrastructure and establish strong
pipeline safety standards to protect good for small
our water and the Great Lakes. As
Michiganders, we all share a special
business, and
responsibility to protect the Great good for our
Lakes, because our economy, our
tourism industry, and our families’ economy – and
health all rely on clean water. We need
to work together to create a better
we must work
balance between good-paying jobs together to
and a sustainable future for our
environment. protect it.
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It’s time for Michigan to upgrade and modernize
our underground water and sewer infrastructure to
protect public health, repair the damage caused by
the Flint Water Crisis – which was a direct
consequence of Rick Snyder’s failed Emergency
Manager law, and Bill Schuette’s negligent
oversight – and prevent another disaster like this
from ever happening again.
To safeguard our irreplaceable water, Michigan
must adopt strong pipeline safety, inspection, and
reporting standards to prevent an oil or natural gas
spill from ever occurring in the Great Lakes. We
must also require all polluters to pay the full cost of
repairing the environmental disasters they create,
using skilled and well-trained workers to fully repair
the damage.
Secure Michigan’s energy future. Clean,
affordable, and reliable energy is essential to
powering Michigan’s economy. We must work to
ensure Michigan has the safest and
most reliable conventional energy
sources to help small business
compete and keep rates low for
Michigan families.
The science is in on climate change,
and as we transition to cleaner,
renewable energy sources, we must
develop a proactive transition plan
to assist workers and communities
who may be affected by plant
retirements to ensure that sites are
redeveloped and new job
opportunities are created. Michigan
must also work to modernize the
electricity grid to make it stronger,
more reliable, more resilient, and
more efficient.

MICHIGAN AFL-CIO POLICY PLATFORM
 Growing Vibrant Communities
“If we want young people to stay in Michigan,
start a family, and put down roots here, then we
need to build vibrant and healthy communities
with good schools, safe neighborhoods, and access
to affordable health care.”
—David Hecker, President, AFT Michigan

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THE PROBLEM
Throughout the 20th Century, cities all over
Michigan were magnets for young workers who
were looking for vibrant communities where they
could put down roots and start a family. But since
2011, Governor Snyder and Republicans in the
legislature have cut billions of dollars from our
local schools, universities, and public safety.
Republicans have also targeted deep cuts to
retirement savings and health care benefits for
Michigan teachers, nurses, police officers, and
firefighters.
As a result of these failed policies, our communities
and schools are struggling to provide basic public
services, and thousands of young people who were
educated at Michigan’s public universities are
leaving Michigan every year for cities like Chicago,
New York, and Washington, D.C.
THE SOLUTION
To get our economy moving, Michigan needs to
build healthy, vibrant, and livable communities that
will attract a diverse and highly-skilled workforce.
That means reversing the deep cuts to our local
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schools to help our students get the skills they
need to compete for good jobs, and promoting
Buy Local requirements to ensure taxpayer dollars
are used to create local jobs for local workers.
We must work to make our state more welcoming
by banning LGBT discrimination. And Michigan
must also work to expand access to affordable
primary and mental health care, and ensure
retirement security for our retirees.
OUR PRIORITIES
Prioritize education to compete for good jobs.
The key to a good job is a good education. But
Republicans in Lansing have sided with the
billionaire DeVos family and wealthy corporations
to take away over $1 billion a year from
neighborhood schools, giving it to unaccountable
private companies running charter and cyber
schools that are failing to educate our kids.
All students, regardless of their zip code, deserve
the support, tools, and time to learn, grow, and
thrive. Michigan can improve school readiness by
putting the state on a path to universal preschool,
by making kindergarten a requirement for all
12 MICHIGAN AFL-CIO POLICY PLATFORM
children, and by ensuring that all students have
access to community-based wraparound services
before and after school to address barriers to
learning.
To ensure every student has a caring, qualified, and
committed teacher, we should set standards for
maximum class sizes, and prioritize education
funding that allows educators more time to
connect one-on-one with students to encourage
critical thinking and creativity.
The state must stop using the School Aid Fund as a
“piggy bank” for state government by restricting
use of School Aid dollars for K-12 and preschool
purposes only. Lastly, we must make charter
schools operators more transparent and
accountable to taxpayers by removing the profit
motive from education by making publicly funded
charter schools truly public – starting with making
making management companies subject to FOIA,
cracking down on conflicts of interest, and holding
charter-issuing organizations accountable for
failing schools.
And in 2018, it is essential for students to receive
quality post secondary education – be it by
learning a skill through union apprenticeship
programs, attending a community college to
prepare for a career, or attending a university. The
state must more adequately fund all public
institutions of higher education so that the burden
to meet rising costs doesn't significantly fall on
students through tuition increases.
Ensure retirement security. After a long career, all
working people should be able to retire in dignity
with strong retirement savings and access to
“
We need strong policies on the books to require government
contracts be used to create good jobs right here at home.
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affordable retiree health care. However, in 2011,
Governor Snyder and Lansing Republicans
approved the Snyder Retirement Tax on pensions
to pay for a $2 billion tax break for their wealthy
corporate donors. Now the legislature is
considering legislation that would slash pensions
and eliminate retiree health care for public
employees like police officers, nurses, and
firefighters. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress
support privatizing Social Security, which would
allow Wall Street CEOs to gamble with America’s
retirement savings. These policies are bad for
retirees and bad for Michigan.
Our elected officials must reject any legislation that
cuts retirement savings for working families.
Instead, the legislature should fully repeal the
Snyder Retirement Tax, and Congress must work to
expand Social Security benefits with an improved
cost-of-living-adjustment to ensure every American
can enjoy a safe and secure retirement.
Support Buy American, Buy Michigan, Buy
Local, and Buy Union programs. To ensure
taxpayers are getting the most value for our
money, we need strong policies on the books to
require government contracts be used to create
good jobs right here at home.
At the local level, that means supporting
community benefits agreements to ensure local
businesses are hiring local workers to perform the
work of modernizing our urban infrastructure. At
the state level, it means supporting Michigan Jobs
First legislation to give preference in state contracts
to small businesses that are located here in
Michigan. And in Congress, it means supporting
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strong Buy American provisions to ensure our
roads and bridges get fixed with steel made in
America, not China.
As a labor movement, the Michigan AFL-CIO, our
affiliates, and labor councils are committed to
building strong, healthy, and vibrant communities
across the state. The state labor federation
encourages all labor unions to negotiate contract
language that requires a union label verifying that
products and services are made or provided by
union workers. The Michigan AFL-CIO is also proud
to affirm our support for the AFL-CIO Community
Services Labor Liaison program within the
framework of the State Association of United Ways
– which helps to build financial and community
support for the many community health and
human services agencies that provide much-
needed services to Michigan families.
Embrace our diversity and oppose all forms of
workforce discrimination. Michigan’s diversity is
one of our greatest strengths. Hate speech and
discrimination should have no place in our great
state. We must strengthen and strictly enforce civil
rights laws that guarantee equal rights for all, and
work to ensure that no one is discriminated against
or profiled based on their race, ethnicity,
birthplace, ability, gender identity, or sexual
orientation. It’s time for Michigan to get on the
right side of history by finally amending the Elliott-
Larsen Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination
against the LGBT community, because no one
should ever be fired from their job or evicted from
their home because they’re LGBT.
Provide access to quality, affordable health care
for every Michigander. For far too long, big
insurance and big drug companies have used their
money to influence our elected officials, shaping
health care policy to pad their own pocketbooks.
Now Republicans in Congress want to pass major
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health care legislation that will take health care
away from millions of Americans and raise the cost
of prescription drugs for Michigan families.
We need our elected leaders to stand up to the
insurance and drug lobby, and work together to
protect and strengthen Medicare, stop outrageous
prescription drug price increases, and ensure no
one is forced into financial ruin because of pre-
existing conditions, extremely high deductibles, or
lifetime caps on coverage. Our elected leaders in
Lansing must also work to protect access to mental
health care for Michigan residents, and strongly
oppose any effort by big insurance companies to
privatize community mental health services, which
will lead to higher costs and worse care.
Michigan must also work to ensure every veteran
who served our nation in uniform has access to
good jobs, quality, affordable health care and a
strong, fully funded and staffed VA. Our
congressional delegation must vigorously oppose
any efforts to cut or privatize services at Michigan’s
three VA hospitals. The state must also work to
reverse Governor Snyder’s disastrous privatization
at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans by firing
the for-profit management firm and hiring well-
trained state employees to ensure our veterans
receive the care they have earned.

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 Creating a Fair Economy
“To build a fair economy in Michigan, we need to
level the playing field on trade and focus on
raising the standard of living for working people
so they can provide a good life for their families.”
—Dennis Williams, President, UAW

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THE PROBLEM
Right now Michigan’s economy is out of
balance. Pro-corporate trade deals like
NAFTA have been a total train wreck for
Michigan, because they reward wealthy
corporations for sending Michigan jobs,
factories, and profits overseas. Since
NAFTA was enacted, Michigan has lost tens
of thousands of good-paying
manufacturing jobs.
Making matters worse, corporate CEOs
have rigged the rules of our economy by
denying their employees a fair return on
their work. According to the AFL-CIO’s
Executive PayWatch Report, S&P 500 CEOs in
Michigan were paid 391 times more than rank-and-
file workers and 795 times more than full-time
minimum wage workers in 2016. Average
compensation for these CEOs was $14,712,548,
while the average salary of production
nonsupervisory workers in Michigan was just
$37,600.
Stagnant paychecks also means working people in
Michigan are struggling to sustain their families.
According to the Michigan Association of United
Way’s ALICE Report, 40 percent of Michigan
households can’t afford basic necessities like
housing, child care, food, health care and
transportation.
THE SOLUTION
We can level the playing field for Michigan’s
working men and women and help them compete
in the global economy by negotiating fair trade
agreements that are focused on exporting
Michigan products instead of Michigan jobs. To
create a fair economy for working families, we can
raise the minimum wage to $15 for all working
people, guarantee earned sick leave so working
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people can care for loved ones when they get sick,
and ensure equal pay for equal work for women.
Creating a fair economy also means creating a fair
tax system, where the wealthiest 1 percent and
corporations pay their fair share for things our
families need, like good schools, safe roads, and
Social Security and Medicare.
OUR PRIORITIES
End pro-corporate trade deals and level the
playing field for working people. Michigan
needs a better deal on trade so working people
can earn a fair return on their work and provide for
their families. We can help working people
compete by: renegotiating trade agreements with
strong and enforceable labor and environmental
standards and expanding access for American
exports; by strengthening Buy American provisions
to require taxpayer dollars be spent on American
companies and jobs; by creating an outsourcing
tax to punish companies that send jobs to foreign
countries; and by cracking down on countries like
China that manipulate their currency to make their
products cheaper and Michigan products like cars
more expensive. Leveling the playing field on trade
will help make Michigan more competitive.
16 MICHIGAN AFL-CIO POLICY PLATFORM
Make the tax code work for working
families, and require the wealthy and
corporations to pay their fair share. As
Americans, we all have a responsibility to
pay our taxes because they help pay for
things our families need, like good
schools, safe roads, clean water, and
police and fire protection. But the tax rules
have been rigged by corporate lobbyists
to favor the wealthy and powerful
corporations over regular working
families. Governor Snyder and Lansing
Republicans handed out over $2 billion in
tax breaks to their corporate donors while
raising taxes on seniors and working
families, and cutting funding for K-16

“
education.
We believe nobody who works
Working people need a better deal on
taxes, and that means ending tax breaks full time should ever be living in
for companies that ship Michigan jobs poverty.
overseas, getting rid of the Snyder Retirement Tax,
and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit for
for a family member when they get sick. Enacting
working families. Reforming our tax system also
strong earned paid sick leave policies will help
means requiring the wealthiest 1 percent and
strengthen families, improve public health, and
corporations to start contributing their fair share to
increase overall workplace productivity.
improve our schools, fix our roads, and protect
Social Security and Medicare.   Provide job protections for pregnancy-related
medical conditions. All working women should be
Establish a $15 minimum wage for all working
eligible for up to three months of job-protected
people so they can provide for their families.
leave if they are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth,
We believe nobody who works full time should
or a related medical condition. Also, pregnant
ever be living in poverty. To rewrite the rules of the
women with a doctor’s recommendation should
labor market and strengthen worker bargaining
have access to reasonable workplace
power, we need to increase the minimum wage to
accommodations, including transferring to a less
$15 to account for inflation, the entry of more
hazardous or strenuous position. Expanding
women into the workforce, and the vastly increased
pregnancy-related job protections will make our
productivity of working people.
economy fairer for working women, and
Adopt strong earned paid sick leave policies to strengthen Michigan families.
ensure all working people have the freedom to
take time off work to recover from an illness or care

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 Protecting Our Voting
Freedoms and Strengthening
Our Democracy
“There’s a direct relationship between the ballot
box and the bread box, and what the union fights
for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken
away in the legislative halls.”
—Walter Reuther, Former President, UAW


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THE PROBLEM
Our democracy is supposed to be of, for, and by
the people, not the wealthy and powerful. But
billionaires and corporate CEOs are using their
campaign donations to manipulate the rules of our
democracy in their favor. They’ve rigged the rules
so they can spend unlimited money on campaigns
while hiding their donations, and by taking away
our voting rights to choose who represents us in
Lansing and Washington. Michigan ranks dead last
in America when it comes to transparency and
accountability in state government.
THE SOLUTION
We need to push for real democracy reforms, to
ensure every American has the freedom to have
their voice heard and their vote counted in our
elections, regardless of party. It’s time to get
money out of politics, expand our voting freedoms,
and modernize our elections by making them more
secure and accurate.
OUR PRIORITIES
Protect and strengthen our voting freedoms.
That means changing the law to allow online voter
registration, expand vote-by-mail and allow no-
reason absentee voting, and early in-person voting.
These common-sense reforms will make it easier
for college students, working people, and senior
citizens to exercise their right to vote. We must also
protect the freedom to vote a straight-party ballot,
which makes voting faster, easier, and more
convenient for Republican and Democratic voters
alike. We must also repeal unfair and discriminatory
voter ID laws that make it harder for low-income
voters and seniors to vote.
Modernize our voting infrastructure. We must
ensure that every voting precinct in Michigan has
the most secure and up-to-date voting technology,
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and enough voting machines available to reduce
waiting time at the polls and ensure every
Michigan voter can have their voice heard and their
vote counted accurately in our elections.
Make state government more open,
transparent, and accountable to taxpayers. It’s
time to open the books on state government by
making the legislature and the executive branch
subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and by
establishing a strong and robust code of ethics for
all state elected officials, including top political
appointees in state government. The code of ethics
must also require personal financial disclosure for
all elected officials, with strong guidelines and
enforceable penalties for failing to disclose any
potential conflicts of interest. Michigan should ban
secret political non-profits, like Governor Snyder’s
“NERD Fund,” and require all in-state political funds
to publicly disclose all political contributions online
on a quarterly basis. We should also explore
solutions to reform or repeal term limits to ensure
we have the best people serving in public office.
Get money out of politics and close the
revolving door in Lansing. Michigan should
repeal the recent “Citizens United on Steroids” law
that allows unlimited spending on political
campaigns. We must also ban lobbyist gifts to
government officials to ensure policymakers are
serving the people of Michigan, not corporate
lobbyists. Michigan also needs to close the
revolving door between the legislature and the
lobby corps, by requiring a mandatory “cooling off”
period of at least three years for former elected
officials after they leave public office.
Ban partisan gerrymandering, which takes away
voters’ freedom to choose their own elected
officials. Michigan must develop a new system for
drawing state legislative and congressional districts
that are truly fair and representative of the people.
19 MICHIGAN AFL-CIO POLICY PLATFORM
 A BETTER MICHIGAN
FOR EVERYONE

A BETTER MICHIGAN FOR EVERYONE 20 MICHIGAN AFL-CIO POLICY PLATFORM