
| For Immediate
Release Contact: Ken Fletcher, (517) 487-5966 May 7, 2004 AFL-CIO Commends Governor Lansing – Michigan State AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney today offered the following statement in response to Governor Granholm’s veto of HB 4160, which would ban local units of government from enacting living wage laws. "The governor’s action today is a victory for all working families and for the concept of local control. Local communities should be able to keep their tax dollars from rewarding companies that refuse to pay a fair wage with adequate health benefits. We believe that living wage ordinances are good public policy because they lift people out of poverty. The current minimum wage is simply inadequate. One minimum wage earner supporting a traditional family of four would fall 40 percent below the poverty threshold. The living wage movement is devoted to the simple principle that people who work full time should not live in poverty. By passing this bill, Republicans in the legislature have proven once again that they believe wages in Michigan are too high and that they intend to do whatever it takes to bring down the income of hard working Michigan families. We applaud the governor for having the courage to stand up for working families by vetoing this bill." ### KF:pf:opeiu459aflcio
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