August 31, 2007

LANSING - In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today looked forward to her Labor Day run/walk, an annual crossing of the Mackinac Bridge which is a celebration of Michigan workers and Michigan's labor movement.

"This Labor Day my family and I will join thousands of Michigan citizens who will run and walk across the Mackinac Bridge for the Annual Bridge Walk event," Granholm said.  "We'll be celebrating the importance of fitness for Michigan families, and we'll be thinking about Michigan workers who have helped define our state and led the labor movement across the country.  This year, the bridge crossing has special significance because we are celebrating the Mighty Mac's 50th anniversary."

The governor's weekly radio address is released each Friday morning and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state.  The address is available on the governor's Web site (www.michigan.gov/gov) for download, as is a clip of the quote above.  The radio address is also available as a podcast on the Web site, as well as on iTunes and via RSS feed for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers.  Links to the audio files and text of today's address follows.

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
August 31, 2007

Full Radio Address Audio: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov108_Full_207185_7.mp3 

Short Clip: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov108_Quote_207187_7.mp3 

This is Governor Jennifer Granholm. This Labor Day my family and I will join thousands of Michigan citizens who will run and walk across the Mackinac Bridge for the Annual Bridge Walk event. We'll be celebrating the importance of fitness for Michigan families, and we'll be thinking about Michigan workers who have helped define our state and led the labor movement across the country.

This year, the bridge crossing has special significance because we're celebrating the Mighty Mac's 50th anniversary - this engineering marvel, built with the strength, skill and perseverance of Michigan workers. And it links Michigan's two magnificent peninsulas, it unites our people and it melds the heart and soul of this great state.

And just as Michigan workers built that bridge to unite Michigan, organized labor has united Michiganians to improve working conditions and pay, and in the process they've led the nation in creating a prosperous middle class reaching far beyond their membership.

But today, our way of life in Michigan and in the United States is threatened as globalization has caused the loss in Michigan of 260,000 good-paying jobs. Jobs have moved to low-wage countries thanks to one-sided unfair trade agreements.

In the spirit of Michigan, we're fighting back. I'm going anywhere and doing anything to bring good-paying jobs to our state, helping employ tens of thousands who are looking for jobs. We're driven forward in this fight with a can-do, will-do attitude - and it's a fight we know we can win with our comprehensive plan.

This year, we put more money in the pockets of hard working Michigan citizens who struggle to make ends meet when we raised to the minimum wage to $7.15 an hour.

And for the first time, we'll be offering a state earned income tax credit, putting more money into the pockets of lower income earners that can help Michigan's working families pay for health care, insurance, home heating costs and other needs.

By rewarding hard work, we're helping citizens earn money that can lift them out of poverty and help provide for their families.

And, we're also working to help boost our economy and get people into good paying jobs with our No Worker Left Behind program.  For the next three years, we're offering free training to workers in fields that can give our economy a boost - No Worker Left Behind is built around targeted, short-term training and job placement that is employer driven, allowing Michigan workers to get good-paying jobs and fill existing job-openings.

All of these initiatives are part of my comprehensive economic plan. In these tough economic times, and in this competitive global economy, I'm fighting to make sure that Michigan workers and Michigan businesses can succeed.

I know that we will, because in Michigan we are blessed with the best workers in the world to drive our economy forward. So for Labor Day 2007, let's celebrate those workers - and those whose footsteps we all follow in.

Thank you.

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