CHECKING THE FACTS: The Dillon and Bernero robocalls

It’s no secret that endorsements from organized labor are going to figure prominently in this year’s Democratic primary for governor. Former Genesee County Treasurer Dan Kildee underscored that reality a week ago when he withdrew from the race, citing concerns about splitting the labor vote and resources.

And immediately after Kildee dropped out, anonymous robocalls began to hit the phones of Michigan voters. Two of the ads were attack calls, directed at Lansing Mayor Virgil Bernero, while a third call praised House Speaker Andy Dillon’s education record. Those calls may have violated federal law, but Michigan campaign laws do not cover the technology.

But how accurate were the calls and the information they presented? The Michigan Messenger checks the facts.

Anti-Bernero ad #1: No Friend of Labor

In this message, the caller tells the voter that Bernero is no friend of labor and it claims that he had an unfair labor complaint filed against the city. That claim is true.

The Teamsters Local 580 filed a complaint with the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth Labor Relations Division on Sept. 11, 2007. That complaint alleged the city was not providing the union with information about seasonal and temporary employees who were filling union covered posts at the city. On Sept. 23, 2008, the state ruled against the city.

In the ruling, Administrative Law Judge Julia Stern found the city violated the Public Employee Rights Act (PERA) “by failing to provide the Charging Party (Teamsters) with relevant information in a timely fashion.”

The entire ruling and complaint can be seen here.

Bernero is also currently being sued in state court by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers over a 527 group that he controls for fraud and unjust enrichment. You can view the complaint in that case here.

The call also claims that Bernero “tried to ax city union jobs.” This claim is true, but hardly the whole story. With steep cuts in state revenue sharing and decreasing revenue at all levels of government, jobs have had to be cut across the board and some of those cuts are inevitably going to be union jobs.

The difference with union jobs is that cuts have to be negotiated. In December, for example, Bernero and the police and firefighters unions negotiated a package of job cuts and concessions to help the city balance its budget in the wake of steep cuts in state revenue sharing.

It should perhaps be noted here that the IBEW has condemned these robocalls and says are not involved in their production in any way.

Conclusion: Mostly true, but contains a measure of spin and distortion.

Anti-Bernero ad #2: Urgent Message

Several claims are made in this call as well, all about Bernero’s relationship with labor.

The first is that “labor supported his opponents in his state senate and mayoral campaigns.” This is partly true and partly false.

During last year’s mayoral campaign Bernero grabbed up several local union endorsements, including the local UAW and firefighters. Opponent Carol Wood snagged groups like the local I.B.E.W., Teamsters Local 580 and the Bricklayers. In other words, labor support in the mayoral contest was split.

The call goes on to quote local labor leaders as calling Bernero a “bully” and saying he was “no friend of organized labor.” Michigan Messenger left several messages for Mike Parker of the local Teamsters, who is cited as the source for the bully comment, but Parker did not return calls.

On the other hand, Ray Michaels from the I.B.E.W. told the Michigan Messenger that Bernero was “no friend of organized labor” back in June 2009. Michaels and other unions boycotted a rally Bernero hosted with Rev. Jesse Jackson. Here’s what Michaels told Messenger:

“We did opt not to participate in it. We support the message. Our issue is with the messenger, with Virg Bernero,” said Ray Michaels of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. “He is no friend of organized labor as far as my union is concerned.”

But of course, he only speaks for his union, while other unions endorsed Bernero.

Conclusion: Overstated, at the very least. Labor unions have been divided on Bernero, some endorsing him and some opposing him. That will undoubtedly be the case again in the race for governor.

Pro-Dillon robocall: Dillon as a “strong advocate” for education

The call is correct in asserting that Dillon supported bills that would “lower class sizes and and make sure our schools are fixed,” and “supported putting limits on charter schools.” Dillon voted for such legislation throughout his years in the state House.

However the call’s claim that Dillon “supported funding for the Michigan Promise Scholarship,” is a bit more muddled, perhaps reminiscent of John Kerry’s famous “I was for it before I was against it” position.

Dillon voted for the original legislation to create the Michigan Promise Scholarship. However, the scholarship was eliminated last October when the state legislature passed a cuts-only budget. That budget had been approved as part of a deal Dillon struck with Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop. The problem? The move to fund the scholarship — and restore cuts to education — failed.

Ultimately the blame on this has to go to the Senate Republicans, who refused to pass any bill that raised revenue in order to maintain a balanced budget without eliminating the Promise Scholarship. But Dillon does bear some measure of that blame for the deal he struck with Bishop, for which he took a great deal of criticism among his fellow Democrats.

State Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, who is also running for the Democratic nomination, bluntly called that strategy a failure in an recent interview with Michigan Messenger. And she was hardly alone. Many members of the House Democratic Caucus were angry at Dillon for going along with a cuts-only budget last year that resulted in such steep cuts to education.

Conclusion: Mostly accurate, though the last claim is much more complicated than the call made it sound.