FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
Gov. Whitmer Leads 65th Annual Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk
LANSING, Mich. – Today, as part of recognizing Labor Day, Governor Gretchen Whitmer led the 65th annual walk across the Mackinac Bridge.
“Another year, another spectacular bridge walk across the Mighty Mac to celebrate Labor Day!,” said Governor Whitmer. “Today, we recognize the work of generations of working people who fought for higher pay, better benefits, and workplace safety and the labor unions who had their back. We celebrate the progress we’ve made to shore up worker’s rights, create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs, and bring manufacturing back home to Michigan. And we recommit ourselves to delivering for working families, lowering costs, and growing our economy. Let’s keep getting it done. Happy Labor Day, Michigan.”
Whitmer Administration Support for Working Michiganders
Governor Whitmer is committed to growing Michigan’s middle class, empowering workers, building thriving communities, and creating good-paying jobs you can raise a family on.
- Restored worker’s rights by repealing “Right to Work,” to ensure workers can more effectively bargain together for fair wages and benefits.
- Rolled back the retirement tax to save half a million households an average of $1,000 a year.
- Quintupled the Working Families Tax Credit, delivering an average combined refund of $3,150 to 700,000 working families, directly benefitting half the kids in Michigan.
- Reinstated prevailing wage for all state projects, raising wages and improving work quality.
- Announced nearly 36,000 good-paying auto jobs and counting, including the first auto plant in Detroit in nearly 30 years.
- Signed an executive directive to fight payroll fraud and required the state to increase the number of contracts awarded to companies that create good-paying jobs in the state.
- Appointed more than 200 union members to boards, commissions, and jobs.
- Secured new investments in union training and pre-apprenticeship programs.
- Invested in additional funding Going Pro to help businesses up-skill in-house talent, secure resources for talent retention in key industries, eliminate barriers to employment, expand partnerships with union training facilities, and more.
- In her What’s Next Address, Governor Whitmer called for paid family and medical leave for Michigan workers to remove barriers to entering the workforce and level the playing field for small businesses, helping them attract and retain workers.
Annual Mackinac Bridge Walk
The Mackinac Bridge Walk has been an annual event since 1958 and this year’s walk marks the 65th event. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people have participated in the walk in recent years.
The Mackinac Bridge opened to traffic in 1957 to connect Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. In 1923, the State Highway Department started a ferry service in response to demand for transportation between the two peninsulas. After their launch, the ferries became popular and eventually could not keep up with demand. The Mackinac Bridge Authority was appointed in 1950 to explore methods of constructing a bridge. At nearly 5 miles long, the Mighty Mac is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere and the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world.
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