UAW members are being bombarded by information from right-wing groups that tries to establish reasons that working people would not want a union.  In response, there is some reasonable information available that should convince us all why it is a good idea to organize.  Let’s take a look at health and safety.  Michigan is a highly organized state, compared to most, with just over twenty percent of our workers organized.  Looking at Health and Safety injury and fatality reports from 2004 (the most recent provided by the AFL-CIO) Michigan workers are obviously safer than workers in Right-to-Work States.  If you compare Michigan ’s 2004 Fatalities (126) to Tennessee (144) you can see you are safer working in Michigan and Michigan has a lot more industrial jobs than Tennessee .  When compared to North Carolina (light manufacturing) we came out ahead (126) to (183.)  If you visit the President’s home, right-to-work state, Texas , our fatalities for 2004 are much lower at (126) to (440).  I can’t imagine a union oriented state putting up with 440 fatalities in one year.  This is an outrageous statistic that would never fly in Michigan or other union states.  As you can see, being in a union keeps you safer than working in a non-union or right-to-work shop.  In fact, as good as we are in Michigan , our serious injuries per one thousand workers has dropped every year since 2000.  We have listened to a lot of political rhetoric lately most candidates choose not to talk about unions or how important they are.  As you can see, unions save lives through health and safety education and awareness.