Organized labor suffers from declining membership and political influence. But it has a legacy of achievements in Michigan and continuing clout within the Democratic Party.
Much of that can be attributed to a series of savvy presidents of the Michigan AFL-CIO dating back to the role that lusty and legendary CIO President Gus Scholle played in the 1948 election of G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams, who went on to serve an unprecedented six two-year terms.
This came to mind after the death last week at age 74 of feisty state President Emeritus Frank Garrison, who led the union for nearly 13 years until his retirement in 1999 and was a labor leader for more than 40 years, including 1982-86 director of the United Auto Workers Community Action Program. He was true blue from birth, named Franklin Delano Garrison in honor of FDR.
Top Democrats, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who early on had uneven relations with labor, and Lt. Gov. John Cherry, who long has had close relations with labor and can rely on its support of his quest to succeed term-limited Granholm, praised Garrison's accomplishments.
So did foot soldiers from labor's trenches. Jack Finn, former lobbyist and attorney for three AFL-CIO affiliated unions and now an official in Granholm's multi-tasked Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, said it well: Garrison's concern for the ranks from which he rose was underscored by his and his family's request that remembrances be made to a fund for laid-off GM employees.
Garrison, who in Granholm's words became a "lion of the labor movement," was years from being a union figure when Gus Scholle made his unique impact on Michigan politics and reshaping of the Democratic party.
A longtime member of the glassworkers union, Scholle clicked early on with Soapy Williams, helping him block control of the state Democratic Party by Teamsters President James R. Hoffa and defeat a Hoffa-backed candidate in the gubernatorial primary, and then transform the party.
Scholle later became an influential member of the Conservation Commission. For a time during the administration of Republican Gov. William G. Milliken, then-Michigan AFL-CIO President Bill Marshall was an appointee on the Transportation Commission and was instrumental in advances in public transportation.
In fact, during Milliken's 1978 successful bid for a third term, some AFL-CIO local leaders (local as in Detroit) were helpful, including mailing of pro-Milliken material to union members.
But that was a blip. Subsequently, and certainly today under President Mark T. Gaffney, the Michigan AFL-CIO is blue to the core, and shapes the hue of the Democratic party.
Legislative watch
Legislation introduced by Rep. Mike Lahti, D-Hancock, to combine the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality passed the House last week. Ex-Gov. John Engler had created the DEQ in 1995 with elements split from the DNR.
Lahti said creating the single entity could save up to $2 million. Beyond that, it's a welcome move for conservation and the environment.
Another welcome move by Lahti is his bill in the House Government Operations Committee requiring that all state government-produced documents, and state advertising, that show map images of the state must depict both peninsulas.
He told the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton that some former Yoopers living in other states sent him messages about seeing a TV ad from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation urging businesses to locate in the state. It showed an image of the Lower Peninsula but left out the U.P.
"That's a lot of land to leave off a map," said Lahti, who recognizes that the Legislature has more immediate issues to deal with in these troubled times.
But, the Gazette said, -- ¦ eventually he wants his bill to get attention."
As indeed it should. Mittens come in pairs, and the Granholm administration should be sensitive to this age-old complaint.
Congressional watch
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, drew well-deserved praise last week from a coalition of Midwestern citizens groups dedicated to protecting the Great Lakes Basin from water withdrawals.
The group, known as FLOW (For the Love of Water), hailed Stupak's resolution that water is a public trust, not a private commodity.
The statement was issued Friday in Traverse City, where attorney Jim Olson is the lead attorney representing a citizens group's case against the Nestle Ice Mountain bottling operations in Michigan. He said, "This resolution, if passed, will seal the leaks" in the Great Lakes Compact approved by Congress last year.
Up North law feds
State Lottery Commissioner Scott Bowen and Michigan State Police Director Peter Munoz are likely to be the top federal law enforcers for most of northern Michigan.
Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow have recommended ex-district judge Bowen, who is close to Granholm, to be the Grand Rapids-based U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. (Traverse City attorney Mike Dettmer held the job in the 1990s.)
They recommended Munoz to be U.S. Marshal for the district, which includes the Upper Peninsula. Emmet is its northernmost county below the bridge.
They also recommended that President Barack Obama nominate Barbara McQuade, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Detroit-headquartered Eastern District, for the top job, and Robert Grubbs to retain the U.S. Marshal job. Cheboygan is that district's northernmost county.
Presidents usually heed recommendations from senators of the same party.
Blanchard on Chrysler board
In the early 1980s, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Blanchard and Republican 1969-82 Gov. Bill Milliken were instrumental in getting federal and state loan guarantees that kept then-Chrysler Corp. out of bankruptcy court.
Upon leaving office, Milliken served several years on the Chrysler board during the era of President Lee Iacocca. Recently, trustees of the UAW retiree health care fund named Blanchard, who was 1983-90 governor, to the new Chrysler-Fiat venture called Chrysler Group L.L.C.
Importance of mentoring
It was encouraging on Father's Day weekend to hear President Obama and Michigan First Gentleman Dan Mulhern promote mentoring, especially for the 20 million young people estimated to be without fathers.
It was extraordinary that a busy president devoted much of his Friday for assorted events touting fatherhood and mentoring.
Mulhern, in one of his occasional fill-ins for the weekly gubernatorial radio address of wife Granholm, said one way to fill the void for those who don't have a dad "is Mentor Michigan, a program that's helping thousands of Michigan children receive guidance and inspiration from an adult." It supports more than 200 organizations around the state.
Interested? Call 1-800-VOLUNTEER.
George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.
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