We hopped in the Dodge Caravan bright and early this morning set out for a town called Dexter Michigan.
Why? Because that is where Dan Armstrong - the media
relations guy for the Mackinac Center - is sending us to interview
Vincent Vernuccio.
Mackinac is a right wing Michigan think tank. Vernuccio is its labour specialist.
When he talks about unions Vernuccio sounds a lot like
Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak - co-incidence or not? He talks
about the need to “modernize” the labour laws. How? By pressuring
politicians to enact so-called “Right to Work” laws
that weaken unions.
I was up-front with Dan Armstrong.
I told him we are OPSEU employees shooting a short
documentary on Right to Work and that our starting point is WE DON’T
LIKE IT. Not one bit! The carrot I offered however was that Mackinac
would have the opportunity to speak to 130,000 OPSEU
members directly.
Two days later Dan emailed me to say yes but with two
conditions – 1) We would allow the Mackinac’s cameraperson to shoot us
shooting the interview and 2) We would let the Mackinac Center see the
finished film before it is released. Let the
bargaining begin.
I said no problem to the first condition and no way to the second.
Bob said what the heck. We’ll do it and if you want to
see just a sneak preview to what Mr. Vernuccio had to say just click on
our video tab. Oddly, he bears an eerie resemblance to Tim Hudak!
In the interview Vernuccio claimed the Mackinac Center
is not anti-union rather it is pro-worker. At the same time demonized
Union leaders as being more interested in
plush vacations than serving their members.
Hmmm. Where in Ontario have we heard that before?
As the interview progressed it became even scarier.
For the Mackinac Center and other right wing American think tanks, Right
to Work legislation is just a first toward a future where unions are
reduced to tame employee benefit associations
and collective bargaining is no more.
(Note to all amateur grammarians. I did not just
misspell the word Centre. Out of respect for our present geographical
location, I used the American spelling Center)
