September 2, 2022
Bi-Weekly Executive Newsletter
Dear Friends,
It always makes me a little melancholy when I look at the calendar and see Labor Day approaching.
It means that my favorite season – those sun-drenched days of summer – is coming to an end and we begin the march toward snow and ice and darkness both when we drive to work in the morning and leave the office at the end of the day.
But then I remember that Labor Day is about so much more than the end of summer and my mood lifts.
When the first Monday in September rolls around, I know that I’ll be spending the day with my friends in organized labor, celebrating their hard work, dedication and solidarity to the cause of protecting the rights of workers.
We may not have the big Labor Day parade in Detroit on the books again this year because of COVID, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll miss the picnics and other festivities that lift up workers in metro Detroit.
It will be 140 years ago this year that 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from New York’s City Hall to Union Square for the first parade for workers’ rights. It was the height of the Industrial Revolution and 12- or 15-hour days, seven days a week in often harsh conditions for poverty wages was the norm.
It would take 12 more years for that first unofficial “workingmen’s (and women’s) holiday” to be declared a national holiday. And we must remember that many workers have paid for that holiday, and better working conditions and pay, with their lives in the decades since that first march.
I’m proud that Oakland County has become more of a labor-friendly workplace since I took office in 2019.
We’re working in a more collaborative fashion, sitting down at the bargaining table and negotiating contracts with competitive pay and attractive benefit packages that are of value to all of our employees, whether they’re in the union or not.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll be soaking up those last precious days of summer, not on the lake up north or at a concert at Pine Knob, but with my brothers and sisters in the Steelworkers, Electrical Workers and Service Employees’ unions.
Because the strength of our county and our country lies in our labor force.
With gratitude,
David Coulter
Oakland County Executive
Service Highlight of the Week: Resources for Older Adults
Did you know that National Senior Citizens Day was Aug. 21? It’s a time to celebrate the county’s older adults and highlight the resources that are available seniors all year round.
 At recent visits to senior activities in Oak Park, Rochester Hills, Waterford and Southfield, Oakland County Executive David Coulter went straight to the source to hear from older Oakland residents and share the programs geared toward them:
- The Oakland County Health Division offers information on Elder Abuse Prevention, provides health services in our clinics and staffs a “nurse on call” hotline for people with questions about health and medical issues. 800-848-5533
- The county’s Senior Market FRESH program offers coupon vouchers for eligible older adults to get Michigan-grown produce and other products at farmers’ markets. Senior Market Days are coming up on Sept. 8 at the Oakland County Farmers Market in Waterford and Sept. 17 at the Farmington Farmers Market.
- Our Neighborhood Housing and Development Division offers resources on home repairs and reverse mortgages for eligible adults as a way to help our older residents stay in their homes.
-
Oakland County Parks and Recreation offers a variety of programs for active adults.
- The Sheriff Office has the 911 Emergency Senior Cell Phone Program to equip seniors with an easy way to contact help in the event of an emergency.
- And the Veterans Services office is dedicated to helping the county’s veterans of any age with resource fairs and help with benefits.
Get ready for #WhyApplyDay
Join us on September 16th for #WhyApplyDay, which is a day set aside to support and encourage students as they begin the extremely important college application process. Wear your college, university, or trade school gear on Sept. 16 and share photos on why someone should apply to college or training or why you applied using the hashtags #WhyApply and #Oakland80.
Nearly 500,000 students across the country will start applying to colleges in September and #WhyApplyDay will employ social media messaging to show the success stories of people who have gotten the college degrees or training they needed to succeed and thrive.
The county’s Oakland80 initiative, which has a goal of ensuring that 80 percent of working-age adults in Oakland County have a college degree or certified training certificate by 2030, will be fully engaged on #WhyApplyDay, not only with social media posts, but with the counseling, coaching and resources the Career and Education Navigators provide to people as they begin to pursue successful and satisfying careers.
|
