Editor’s Note: Views expressed in guest columns and letters to the editor reflect the views of the author, not the views of The State News.
After years of being at the end of jokes, Detroit finally is looking at some serious restructuring. The emergency manager law has come to its ultimate test, starting in Benton Harbor, then to Flint and finally to Detroit. People around the state now are crying that Gov. Rick Snyder is a dictator, and the sanity contract is being violated. However, let’s look at the real opponents that stand to benefit if this law is repealed.
The organization that really was pushing students to sign the emergency manager repeal petition was the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, or the AFSCME. The largest union in the state of Michigan, the AFSCME has been a big player in American politics since it was founded in Wisconsin.
One wrong move against public employees, and the AFSCME will send out thousands of its members to gather signatures to see to it that you are recalled. One law that lowers public employee benefits or wages, and AFSCME will be the first to start the drive to its repeal.
Detroit currently faces a mountain of debt that it cannot handle without cutting its budget. Unfortunately, this requires that some city workers will have to be laid off or see their benefits cut.
When you see AFSCME petition collectors on campus — and I guarantee that you will see them again — remember who it represents. As much as it might try to portray themselves as one, they are not a representative of common Americans or liberal ideas. Instead, AFSCME signature collectors are representatives of a public employees union that has a large incentive to see that government continues to grow larger and continues to spend more.
Right now the AFSCME is campaigning its heart out to see that Detroit keeps its government large in spite of its falling population. If Detroit does not size its government to match its new lean complexion, it will face bankruptcy. It is fine for a union to represent its members, but the people of Michigan cannot let the AFSCME kill the largest community in this state.
Ryan Van Antwerp, James Madison freshman
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