The kept going back to wages are going to decrease if you become right to work, youll hurt the worker. We said, no, thats not true at all. We showed that wages increase at a higher rate when youre in a right to work state. The other thing we ran into was, Companies Want to move to right to work states because they want to pay people less. So that was interesting. So they were saying that, you know, Site Selectors, we know who they are, what they do, this is one of almost their standard questions is, are you a right to work state, are you not. And theres plenty of companies who have moved to states that they have specifically said were going here because this is a key component to it. So what we did is, we said businesses dont go to right to work states because they want to pay less, because again, the statistics dont back that up. Companies go to right to work states because theres more flexibility in the workplace, and because their workers can be more efficient. And again, we brought that back to, why is that . Because the worker is empowered with personal liberty and with the ability to make more decisions on their own versus having this Union Contract overrule things. So that was another interesting argument. Right to work states are more dangerous. That was the last big one that they threw at us. So what we did is we actually pulled all the workers comp today from right to work states, nonrighttowork states. I created the spreadsheet myself and i had a blast doing it, but i couldnt show it to my colleagues because their eyes glaze over. We showed that the numbers prove out that actually in right to work states there were fewer incidents and accidents. I know you referenced that too in what you said. So those were the things we ran into. And again, we always had to bring it back to people. What does it mean for the person . We look at the democrats, speaking as a republican, the democrats are always so effective because they always take it to people. So we wanted to make sure we did the same thing. The impact on wisconsin. This is pretty new to wisconsin. But we are able to see some immediate things. It was pretty cool, the day after we passed right to work, i got a call from the cfo of a company i know, i owns a conglomeration of companies, 14, 15 companies. He said, chris, weve been waiting in the wings, but were moving one of our Manufacturing Companies from minnesota to wisconsin. We just wanted to make sure you knew that so you had evidence that this is a big deal for companies. That was one thing. We had another company, badger meter, he said well look at moving a hundred employees to another state because they were a right to work state, we have more flexibility there, about were going to keep those employees here, and they actually looked at expanding too. A constituent of mine last week said, hey, chris, wondering if next week you can come to another Ribbon Cutting for an expansion were having. This guy, when i knocked his door for the first time in 2010, he chewed on me for about 45 minutes to an hour about how terrible wisconsin was, with the business climate, how we just werent listening to business owners. I said, dig, give it some time, trust me on this one, weve got a different crop of people coming in here, were going to make changes. Instead of moving operations to kentucky, they have grown in the state of wisconsin. And ive been to two Ribbon Cuttings for expansions there. Proof positive that its working. This week ive got some legislators from missouri who are coming out to talk to me, hey, walk us through why you guys did what you did and help us understand better so that we can make an informed decision on what to do with this veto. Wisconsin business environment, this is pretty cool too, weve always been ranked in the lower middle tier or the bottom tier. Thats where weve been for probably the last decade. Ceo magazine, were now 14th. And the cool one for us is manpower. So manpower does a study on finding a job. Were now number 4. Were the fourth best state for finding a job. That is powerful. We dont have a jobs issue anymore in the state of wisconsin. We have a worker issue, finding workers, which is a really need transition from four or five years ago when i took office, everybody was struggling to find jobs. But we dont have a jobs issue anymore. We have a worker issue. Thats a different subject. Over the last year, this was pretty powerful too, because as you know, wisconsin is a very heavy manufacturing state. And southeastern wisconsin, which is kind of the milwaukee, waukesha, its pretty much the milwaukee region, we were just named we had the highest growth in manufacturing jobs of any metro area in the United States in the last year. And its because of things weve been doing. And we can definitely attribute that to right to work. That was a piece of the puzzle that has really helped us. So very strong evidence just from on the ground, people, businesses, and people who are getting jobs too, these are good paying jobs, that right to work is good for a state. I think its good for the nation as a whole. Because, again, it gets back to the individual liberty and freedom of a person to choose if they want to associate or not with us. Thats what i had. Were below the National Average on the u. I. Rate in wisconsin. Were doing well there too. [ applause ] hi, im director of labor policy for the Mackinaw Center out in michigan. Youve heard from the economist, youve heard from the cpa, now youll get to hear from the lawyer. I dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing. Lets do a real quick definition of what is right to work. Right to work simply means a union cant get a worker fired for not paying them. It doesnt affect collective bargaining in any other way. Workers unions can still negotiate with their employer over wages, hours, working conditions. Anything they could negotiate over before right to work, they can negotiate over after right to work. They simply cant say you have to pay us or youre going to lose your job. Let me tell you what was going on in michigan from 2000 to 2010, give or take. It was michigans lost decade. We had some of the highest unemployment in the country. We lost over 86,000 payroll jobs during that period. Our wages were falling. Between 2001 and 2012, wages in michigan fell by almost 2500 a year, inflation adjusted. The rest of the country, wages went up by almost 3,000. We were losing population. There is a saying in michigan, last one in michigan, turn out the lights. And some people really took that to heart. I moved in 2012, right as the unions were putting a balance on the measure on the november 2012 balance on the to amend the constitution to allow Union Collective bargaining agreements, government collective Union Bargaining agreements to have an effective veto over legislation. They were going to give government collective bargaining agreements the power of the constitution. And civics 101, you have a constitutional amendment, and then you have a piece of legislation which wins. The constitutional amendment. So its against this backdrop that i moved. And i was an optimist, i knew michigan would be coming back. Part of me was, im moving, im taking this new job, im moving my soontobe wife here, im buying a home, i hope this stuff works out, especially with this proposal. Well, it did. Voters took one look at that and it went down by 15 points. They said no. That eventually led to the conversation on right to work. And in december 2012, michigan, the state with the fifth highest Union Membership rate, the birthplace of the uaw, long considered a labor stronghold, finally gave workers the freedom to choose. And the effect was felt almost immediately. The next month, the senator was talking about Site Selectors. Site selection magazine published, there should be a significant increase in the number of projects michigan receives because they are no longer being eliminated in the early stages of searches. Now, weve heard about right to work and population growth. You have high population growth in the right to work states, you have higher wage growth, you have lower unemployment, more jobs. At its core, right to work is about freedom. And when job creators and workers look at states, the first thing they look at is does the state have a right to work law or not. If the state has a horrible regulatory business environment, if they have incredibly high taxes, chances are jobs probably arent going there. But if they have a competitive tax climate, if they have competitive regulatory environment, then jobs are going to be attracted. The problem is without a right to work law, without that check box, most Site Selectors wont even look past do you have worker freedom or not. So what happened . Michigan, unemployment went down, led the nation by almost 10 points, since june 2009. Were now at 5. 3 . Unfortunately wisconsin is still beating us. But we have a lot to offer. The next closest to us was the right to work state of indiana which had a sixpoint drop. In may alone, michigan added 6,000 manufacturing jobs. And up until that point it was almost 13,000 for the year. Indiana, our right to work neighbor, added 2,000 that month, 5,000 for the year. You can contrast that with, you know what, i will go ahead and say, forced unionism. The forced unionism state of illinois, which lost 2,000 in the same month. Right to work states are gaining these jobs, forced unionism states are losing. Remember i told you i was just a little nervous about buying a home, relocating my life to michigan. That gamble paid off. Right now Michigan Home values have grown the seventh highest in the country in the last five years. Ill tell you from personal experience, my home value has sky rocketed since i bought it in 2012. Things are going well in michigan. Wages. Wages are going up. From march 2013, when the right to work law took effect, until early 2015, michigan earnings have gone up by 5. 4 . Compare that to the National Average at 3. 7. Oklahoma, which passed right to work earlier, in the 2000s, the year right to work went into effect, before, 539 was the average pay per week. By the end of 2002, after right to work, it went up to 551. In 2012, it was 801. In indiana, before right to work, average weekly wages was 724. By the end of 2012, after they passed right to work, average wages were 793. So much for right to work lowering wages or right to work for less. So weve heard where they got it. The senator was talking about starbucks. I grew up in new york city. Do you know how much rent is for an average apartment in new york city . Its about 3400 a month. You can get a shoebox apartment, not even a onebedroom, a studio apartment costs you 2,000 a month rent in new york city. You get a decent house in alabama, the mortgage on average, the right to work state of alabama, 800 a month. Starts to put things in perspective of why those workers in new york are getting paid more. The dollar does not nearly go as far. Well, jamess nemesis, epi, just released their 2015 Family Budget calculator. And they went through, and according to their calculations, went through several metropolitan areas, and estimated how much a typical family would need to spend on rent, food, the bare basics. All ten of their most expensive cities are in forced unionism states. This is the group saying, well, workers arent making more in right to work states. Their own data is showing them that when you calculate it correctly, and thats because the costs are more. When you factor in that cost of living, workers in right to work states are making about 4 more. And the final thing that happens in right to work states, which makes the unions ill say pause when they hear this, is that right to work can actually make unions stronger. Right to work means that unions cant take their own membership for granted. They cant force them to pay, so they actually have to prove their worth to their membership. They have to compete. We know that competition can make you stronger. Last year, the right to work state of indiana tied for the number one state of adding new union members. Last year they added 50,000 new union members. Michigan lost some, and the forced unionism states actually beat the right to work states last year in new union members. You go back a couple of years and you see that it goes back and forth. Some years, right to work states actually outpace n nonrighttowork states or forced unionism states as far as new union members. I can spout numbers at you. I dont want you to take my word for it. I want to read you a couple of quotes. This is something i never understood, that people think right to work hurts unions. To me it helps them. You dont have to belong if you dont want to. So figure to an organizing drive, i can tell these workers, if i dont like this arrangement, you dont have to belong, versus, if we get 50 of you, then all of you have to belong whether you like it or not. I dont even like the way that sounds. Anybody know who said that . Gary cassteal, uaws current secretarytreasurer. In michigan, the aflcio president , after right to work passed, said we dont know what to expect, what we can continue to do is explain to our members why membership is of value. Same thing. Same sentiment from the membership director of the states largest union, the mea, the Teachers Union, how we had to increase our efforts on that, hes talking about communicating with his members but why they should support his union. Sure we have, and were stronger because of it. Now, i would like to say that theyre taking these sentiments to heart. I think some are, some arent. We have run into a few speed bumps with worker freedom in michigan. The first of which of that t first of which was, during the period before the law went into effect, unions were able to extend contracts up to ten years, a decade of forced unionism, because the right to work law did not affect current contracts. They also established windows or said that workers could only exercise the right to work rights during certain times of year. For the Teachers Union, its the month of august which we just passed. And the one that sprang up on us this year that kind of boggles the mind, is we had the Teachers Union again used to accept resignations in their mailbox. Now they say they will no longer be accepting resignations and will now only accept it to a new mailbox. Not coincidentally, the mailbox was mailbox 51, p. O. Box 51 at the local office, which you can make allusions to area 51 all you want. So this is what were seeing. But at the end of the day, even as the unions try whatever they can to get around the right to work law, we are seeing more jobs in michigan. We are seeing higher home values. We are seeing more population growth. And i will tell you that the attitude in the wolverine state is optimistic. We are optimistic about the future. And its due in large part to our worker freedom. So thank you very much. [ applause ] weve got some time for questions. Was there someone with the microphone . If youll stand up and state your name and affiliation. My name is connor wolf. Im a reporter at the daily news foundation. My question is with regards to the affirmation of all the right to work states. Upon passing a right to work law, do we see wages change in that case, compared to where wages were before the right to work law was passed . Could this be a control for future reports . Its the kind of thing that both the folks on the left and myself on the right and academic economists as well basically say that we expect the effect to basically take many years to play itself out. The way you would expect right to work to affect wages, on the upside, by attracting new businesses and putting upward demand for labor. Alabama has more auto manufacturing plants with pretty good wages precisely because of the right to work law. But they didnt all move there as soon as the right to work law was passed, i think in alabamas case in the 40s. The unions argument is it puts downward pressure. In both cases this is something thats going to take place over a number of years. I was quite surprised to see the results out of bowling green. Its something at a statewide level that you would expect to play its out over a number of years. What the epi studies, what i did, was basically took indiana and michigan out of the data sets after the right to work law was padding, saying lets wait a few was passed, saying lets wait a few numbers. In a couple of years, youll be able to take a look. Its not something that you would expect to have effect the next month or two months later. Connor, i can send you some of the numbers that we ran as far as the michigan Earnings Growth and also some of the average Weekly Earnings for oklahoma and indiana. Unfortunately we havent done wisconsin yet because it is pretty new. Yeah, we are seeing increases wages. We compared that to National Averages. Like i said, michigan is outpacing the National Average for wage growth. They can go back and forth, but at the end of the day, when you looked at it, the tag line of workers will make less after right to work law is passed is simply untrue, just by looking at the last several right to work states after they passed the law. [ inaudible question ] it has been stated or ive heard, i think even once here, that a lot of large corporations, fortune 500 companies, are very lukewarm to right to work laws because they would rather negotiate with one union than with 10,000 or 20,000 employees, and that they see right to work laws as disruptive of labor and therefore are very unhelpful in getting these laws enacted in other states. Is that a correct statement of fact, or is that myth . Right to work wouldnt have any effect on the number of unions theyre negotiating with. The only thing right to work affects is whether or not youre forced to pay dues. The size of the bargaining unit, whether or not you have to bargain, thats an entirely different question. I think it may be more of an issue, to the extent that youre correct on that, im not active in the lobbying campaigns, but it may be that right to work puts more pressure on the unions to deliver for their members. Without right to work, basically its a captive audience they can tax, raise the dues. Uaw recently hiked their dues 25 . If youre in ohio, pennsylvania, many of these other states, basically if you arent willing to switch jobs, they can raise your dues and you have to pay up. And they dont have a lot of press