Former UAW Local President May Be Out of the Spotlight But Remains Involved

 

By Mike Thompson

            Consider Saginaw’s public leadership during the past quarter century, and nobody has been in the spotlight as consistently as Mike Hanley: Saginaw City Council, State House of Representatives (eventually Democratic minority leader), a bid for the State Senate, another bid for County Clerk, and then president of UAW Local 699. And of course, now a member of the Saginaw County Board of Commissioners, a relatively low-profile role compared to his past accomplishments.

Having recently retired as President of Local 699, The Review wanted to sit down with Mike Hanley Mike to discuss some insights with us on the current state of our political and community landscape.

Review: Now that your three-year stint with Local 699 is finished, what does your future hold in terms of community leadership and involvement?

Hanley: I currently serve on the Saginaw Future Board, the Saginaw County Revolving Loan Fund Board, the Saginaw County Economic Development Commission, the Saginaw Downtown Development Authority and the Saginaw Event Center Advisory Committee. Also, my work as a County Commissioner involves several other committees.  I have learned over the years that it is difficult for me not to be active at some level in this community.

Beyond that, they say there are two words always to remember never to use in politics -- always and never.

Review: How would you evaluate the events that transpired with the UAW during these past three years?

Hanley: Obviously these are the toughest times GM, Chrysler and Ford, and therefore the UAW have ever experienced.  I’m grateful that nationally, the union and the companies have been able to work constructively for the most part to save jobs and to minimize pain for workers and retirees. Personally, I’m grateful to have had the chance to work with so many people in Saginaw on the management side of the house, and of course in the union, who care deeply about keeping and growing jobs here.

Events did not need to unfold as they did.

I will always believe that Delphi’s bankruptcy was essentially a conspiracy between top executives and board members to destroy shareholder value and force unnecessary sacrifice on thousands of hourly and management employees. The necessary adaptations to new market realties could have been accomplished in a far more constructive way through negotiation prior to the bankruptcy.  

In fact, the UAW-Delphi Supplemental Agreement of 2004 facilitated those adaptations; it just wasn’t implemented by management. That said, while there’s been a lot of suffering for those who were hired before Delphi’s bankruptcy, there have also been new opportunities for the more than 2,000 people who were hired in 2006.

Unfortunately, until U.S. trade, labor and industrial policies are adapted to support manufacturing and workers’ rights in this county, the new generation will probably not have the opportunities that autoworkers had in the past. Also, I wish the companies were more loyal to our nation and that our nation was more loyal to our companies and workers.

Together, while it wasn’t always pretty or perfect, I think we in Saginaw have done a great job at making the best of a very bad situation, but it remains a bad situation.

Review: What does the future hold for the auto industry, locally and nationally and internationally? 

Hanley: Locally, as long as cars are being put together in Michigan, I think we have a good chance to make parts in this area. However, volumes have to increase for these companies to survive.  When I assumed the Local 699 presidency in 2006, annual U.S. light vehicle sales were 16.5 million units. This year, it will be a surprise if we reach 10 million. These low volumes aren’t at all related to the auto industry, they’re related to the whole depressed economy.

Nationally, the trend in American-style capitalism has been toward the off-shoring of manufacturing for several decades now. We need our leaders and the public to become aware that our current trade and fiscal policies will result in tremendous misery for our people, then make the hard choices and changes to those policies and consumer buying habits to turn things around.  Clearly, the room for growth internationally is Asia and India and it’s huge. Cars will get greener, but far slower than many anticipate.

Review: When people criticize the General Motors and Chrysler bailouts (or should we say, low-interest loans), what is your reaction?

Hanley: Rage. The auto makers are responsible for some of their problems, but we would not be in this crisis but for the criminally irresponsible behavior on Wall Street that crashed our economy.  

And the federal government threw  money at the companies who caused this mess!  For Senator Shelby (of Alabama) to say “your model doesn’t work” is ridiculous. When did Robert Shelby balance a budget in the U.S. Senate?  When do the cuts to his health insurance and pension kick in?  Shelby’s model doesn’t work!  After 9/11, the US auto companies gave money and sponsored programs to try to rebuild our ailing economy. Virtually none of the transplant companies that Senator Shelby loves so deeply and Alabama subsidizes so generously lifted a finger to show support for our country during our moment of need.  We were the Arsenal of Democracy.  Shelby and many others should be ashamed of their hypocritical comments and unpatriotic views. 

Review: The UAW strongly endorsed President Obama. How would you evaluate his administration’s performance during his first six months?

Hanley: He’s been given an impossible job and has done well at it so far.  But it’s very early.  He has done a great job on mending fences in foreign policy while staying for strong on national defense.  I hope to see more bold strokes on domestic, fiscal and trade issues.  I think he’s going to have to take on some in our own party to get the things done that need to be done and turn our country around.

I’m hoping that Democrats in general will start talking about the unsustainable trade and federal budget deficits we’re running, the harmful effects of off shoring more and more of our manufacturing base, and the need to build a sustainable international trade system.

Review: It’s been nearly a decade since you were term-limited out of state government, but what’s your view on how they’re doing down in Lansing these days?

Hanley: Well, that’s another impossible job. I will say of the Legislature that I used to believe term limits were one of the rare things that would not “kill us or make us stronger,” but I was wrong.  I think term limits are killing us. The partisanship and political insecurity of short-time legislators is getting in the way of courageous decisions.

Review: Please tell us about your interests and goals in serving on the County Board of Commissioners.

Hanley: As you can see from my answer on my future political plans, I’m very focused on economic development. I am also very focused on building coalitions in the community and the region. I think leaders in labor, business and every other sector have many of the same goals and that if we build stronger relationships and stronger vision, we can accomplish far more than we do today.

Review: For many years, the County Commissioners and some of the other boards, such as the Road Commission, have been criticized regarding pay and health insurance. What is your view of this?

Hanley: We’re considering expanding the Road Commission’s membership right now, and spreading the existing wage pool to more members and therefore cutting pay. The County Commission cut pay and benefits, at least for new Commissioners, before I got there. I’ve never been a fan of providing benefits for part time elected officials while not providing them for employees. I think it was unwise for the Commission to eliminate the compensation commission late last year. But also consider: A friend recently sent me an article about the Macomb County Board cutting its pay by 5 percent, so now it’s only three times the pay of a Saginaw County Commissioner.

Review: In closing, we must ask, how are things going over at The Big Ugly Fish?

Hanley: At 1418 State Street, corner of North Mason in Saginaw -- Happytown USA? THAT Big Ugly Fish?

I don’t think that’s any of your damned business. We don’t encourage a lot of smiling, laughing or singing in there! We’re not zoned for it!  However, in response to customer requests, I have applied to City Hall for a toe-tapping permit.

That is a lengthy bureaucratic process because toe tapping can lead to other more aggressive behaviors, but we are hopeful that we will be approved some time in 2011.  

The all-you-can-eat free popcorn buffet is still open and we still provide free ice in the cocktails.  If you want to know more, you’ll have to go in and ask for yourself.