Pushback against public-sector unions in Michigan from Democrats

Yes, Michigan has a Republican governor, but Detroit's steadfast mayor, Democrat Dave Bing, will implement reforms in the troubled city that will right-size spending there.

From the Wall Street Journal:

A new state law has emboldened the Detroit mayor and schools chief to take a more aggressive stance toward public unions as the city leaders try to mop up hundreds of millions of dollars in red ink.

Robert Bobb, the head of the Detroit Public Schools, late last week sent layoff notices to the district's 5,466 salaried employees, including all of its teachers, a preliminary step in seeking broad work-force cuts to deal with lower enrollment.

Earlier last week, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing presented a $3.1 billion annual budget to City Council in which he proposed higher casino taxes and substantial cuts in city workers' health care and pensions to close an estimated $200 million budget gap.

Mr. Bobb, already an emergency financial manager for the struggling and shrinking public school system, is getting further authority under a measure signed into law March 17 that broadens state powers to intervene in the finances and governance of struggling municipalities and school districts. This could enable Mr. Bobb to void union contracts, sideline elected school-board members, close schools and authorize charter schools.

Bobb was appointed to his position by former Governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat.

UPDATE April 19: Publius Forum informs us that Bing has 48 unions to deal with in Detroit.

Related post:

Detroit mayor on unions: "Either they can't read, they can't add or they can't comprehend"

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