Right to Work Brings Jobs

The President and CEO of a local meter manufacturing company states the case for Right to Work.  If the Wisconsin legislature passes the law, the company will bring in new jobs.  Tom Held has the story in the Milwaukee Business Journal.

Rich Meeusen, president and CEO of Badger Meter Inc., threatened to move more than 100 manufacturing jobs from Brown Deer if so-called “right-to-work” legislation failed to pass in Wisconsin.
He also said Badger Meter was poised to add 30 to 50 jobs to produce a new water meter, and the decision of whether those jobs would land in Brown Deer or Nogales, Mexico, hinged on right-to-work, the controversial law being fast-tracked through the state Legislature by the GOP. His company has ordered the production equipment and is waiting to determine where it will be installed.

Meeusen’s provocative statement contrasted with milder comments and mixed views on the law’s impact from the other eight business leaders who discussed the topic during a Manufacturing Executive Roundtable hosted by the Milwaukee Business Journal.

Badger Meter’s plant in Brown Deer is the only one of the company’s eight facilities with a labor union — the International Association of Aerospace Workers — and Meeusen strongly said the fate of the right-to-work law would determine the fate of the 120 jobs there.

“For the last 10 years, I have systematically reduced employment in Milwaukee, from 350 union workers 10 years ago to 120 today,” he said. “If Wisconsin didn’t go right-to-work … and our contract is up November of 2016 … we have plans we could be down to zero by then.”