September 1, 2006

LANSING – In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said Labor Day is a day to salute the labor contributions of Michigan’s workforce and to honor the great Michigan value of hard work symbolized by the Mackinac Bridge.
 
“The Mackinac Bridge, for me, is a symbol of another great Michigan value: the value of hard work,” Granholm said.  “We are blessed in Michigan with the nation’s greatest workforce.  We have the engineers who design our state-of-the-art automobiles and the workers who build them; we have the scientists who are designing the next lifesaving drug and the researchers who are developing alternative energy sources and new technologies.  We have great ironworkers who built the Mighty Mac and Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, and great teachers who are educating Michigan’s next workforce.”
 
Governor Granholm continues to go anywhere and do anything to ensure workers across the state have good jobs to support their families.

Earlier this year, Granholm signed legislation creating a new minimum wage so that on October 1, low-wage workers will see their hourly wage go from $5.15 an hour to $6.95 an hour.  This week, Granholm fought for legislation that will create an Earned Income Tax Credit that will ultimately mean up to an additional $880 per year for 600,000 working families in Michigan.

Granholm is also fighting to guarantee every student in Michigan a $4,000 scholarship for education beyond high school, because an educated workforce is critical to remaining competitive in today’s 21st century economy.

“My comprehensive economic plan is working too, diversifying the economy to create thousands of new, high-paying jobs, making our business climate attractive to companies around the globe, and accelerating road work and other projects to create thousands of jobs today,” Granholm said.  “The best way to celebrate Labor Day is to ensure that workers across our state have good jobs to support their families.”

The Governor’s weekly radio address is released each Friday morning and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state through an affiliation with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.  The address will also be available on the Governor’s website on Mondays as a podcast for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers.

Broadcasters Note: Governor Granholm’s radio address can be accessed through Sunday evening exclusively through the Members Only page of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters website.

Publishers Note: The text of today’s address is attached.