Police used pepper spray Thursday to subdue protesters trying to rush the Michigan Senate chamber after Gov. Rick Snyder and other Republican leaders announced they would press for quick approval of right-to-work legislation limiting union powers. . . . . After repeatedly insisting during his first two years in office that right-to-work was not on his agenda, Snyder reversed course Thursday, a month after voters defeated a ballot initiative that would have barred such measures under the state constitution. In an interview with The Associated Press, Snyder said he had kept the issue at arm’s length while pursuing other programs to bolster the state economy. But he said circumstances had pushed the matter to the forefront. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/gov-snyder-gop-leaders-say-theyll...
Right to work legislation introduced in Michigan
As noted, Michigan has the ballot initiative process. Thus the legislation, which will likely pass, could be reversed in the same manner that Ohio reversed SB 5 last year. Opponents will have the advantage of calling for repeal of legislation, rather than amending the constitution. Many may not have liked the latter, but that doesn't necessarily mean they wanted the former.
Advocates have been promoting this initiative for some time. It has now entered an advanced stage, and will likely be on the mid-term ballot. Michigan has been bleeding jobs to RTW states for almost a generation, and has yet to reverse the flow. Ohio may also have an initiative in place by then as well. Should either initiative succeed, Ontario would be hard-pressed not to follow suit. Major capital decisions, regarding operations here, need to be made by the Detroit Three in the not too distant future. No doubt they are watching developments closely, as is Hudak, no doubt.
The state House passed the legislation Thursday afternoon by 58-42. It now moves on to the Senate.
King said Michigan's labor unions will evaluate the legislation and figure out a way to challenge it.
State Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills, who spoke against the bill to loud applause from the gallery, said it contains an appropriation of state funds designed to make it referendum-proof.
Bills considered appropriation bills cannot be repealed through a ballot measure, as which happened with the toughened emergency manager law, Public Act 4, on Nov. 6.
King said he is determined to find a way to overturn the legislation.
. . . .
King said the labor movement will consider citizen initiatives, referendums and other measures.
The "freedom to freeload" bill is being rammed through in the "lame duck" session with hearings or amendments
@josh: thanks for the info about the legislation including an appropriation measure. This sure would suck if it can't be overturned next midterm. What would Walter Reuther do?
It could be overturned. There are two separate ballot procedures in Michigan: referendum and initiative. The former is a ballot questiion voting up or down on legislation enacted into law. But you can't get that on the ballot if it includes an appropriation. Initiative is where you put a question on the ballot after petitioning the legislature to adopt a law. In this instance something like, right to work should not be permitted. It's a more time consuming process than referendum. Also, once a referendum is certified to go on the ballot, the adopted law is suspended, unlike with an initiative.
@josh: thanks again for explaining that. What cards does King have to play, at this point?
Looks like there's little he can do to stop it from passing. Next step probably is deciding whether they want to go the referendum route, which would mean trying to get the Michigan Supreme Court to reverse its previous decisions holding that appropriation measures appended to non-appropriation laws imminunize the law from a referendum or, more likely, start the initiative process by petitioning to repeal the law in the new legislative session that begins next month.
It looks like RTW is set to pass next Tuesday, but existing contracts will remain in force until they expire (2015, as it applies to the UAW/Detroit 3).
President Barack Obama on Monday threw his support behind labor unions opposed to a Republican-led drive for "right-to-work" laws in Michigan, saying efforts to pass such measures were not about economics but about politics. Obama used a visit to an auto plant in the cradle of the American labor movement to weigh in on the controversial push in the state legislature to impose new restrictions on unions, part of the Democratic president's political base that helped him win re-election last month.
"What we shouldn't be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions," he said to loud cheers from workers at the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Michigan. "We shouldn't be doing that."
"These so-called right-to-work laws, they don't have to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics," Obama said. "What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/10/us-usa-unions-michigan-obama-idUSBRE8B912T20121210
Then why doesnt he fucking introduce federal legislation regulating it instead of photo ops designed to make him look like one of the working class?
The laws are permitted by the anti-union 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. It would be futile to introduce legislation to repeal that since the Republicans control the house and the filibuster in the senate.
It would be a cool gesture on Obama's part, though. It'd really show where he stands.
Law passes Michigan house. Avenues for repeal:
Citizens Initiative: This route may be labor's best route to the ballot box. According to an analysis by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan labor supporters could need to gather a high number of signatories to force a vote to repeal the law, similar to what was done in Ohio with the repeal of an anti-collective bargaining law. This route does not require the removal of the appropriations in the legislation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/11/right-to-work-michigan_n_2277178.html
Law passes Michigan house. Avenues for repeal:
Citizens Initiative: This route may be labor's best route to the ballot box. According to an analysis by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan labor supporters could need to gather a high number of signatories to force a vote to repeal the law, similar to what was done in Ohio with the repeal of an anti-collective bargaining law. This route does not require the removal of the appropriations in the legislation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/11/right-to-work-michigan_n_2277178.html
Gov. Snyder can also use his line item veto to remove the appropriation from the bill, thus allowing it on the next ballot. Gov. Snyder is up for re-election in 2014.
Gov. Snyder has signed the bill into law, with the appropriation attachment.
What a surprise.
Update: 12/11: This is what Lansing looks like this morning as around 15,000 people have converged on the capitol:
Labor’s day of reckoning has finally arrived.
In a landmark 5-4 decision in Janus v. American Federation State, County, and Municipal Employees, the Supreme Court has effectively imposed a “right-to-work” regime on public sector unions in all fifty states. There’s no sugarcoating it: this is a major defeat for an already embattled labor movement, and the successful culmination of years of right-wing judicial activism aimed at undermining organized labor’s last remaining stronghold.
The decision punctuates a relentlessly brutal period for organized labor in the US. Six states have passed right-to-work laws since 2012, bringing the open shop to a majority of states including traditional union strongholds like Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia. Wisconsin enacted the infamous Act 10, which goes beyond the open shop to radically restrict the scope of collective bargaining and undercut public employees’ wages. Iowa and Missouri passed laws that require public sector unions to hold regular recertification votes, and a handful of states enacted so-called “paycheck protection” laws that require unions to obtain authorization from each member every year before deducting dues or fees from their paychecks.
The Janus ruling only paves the way for another round of judicial and legislative assaults on the labor movement. With national open shop the law of the land in the public sector, it seems like only a matter of time before it crosses over to the private sector, either through congressional legislation or another Supreme Court case....
I doubt anyone will care these days. Unions have not done anything for most working people in a very long time. They have taken care of their own, and excluded us. This is the price they pay. If they had supported the people, the people would have supported them, and not let the right wing forces put them down.
Goodbye and thanks for all the fish!
The Supreme Court has not had the final word on this:
https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/6/27/17510046/public-unions-janus-...
This was not unexpected. As Justice Kagan stated, the majority has weaponized the free speeech clause of the first amendment against unions in much the way they did so in striking down campaign finance laws. It's horrible legal reasoning by a court that only cares about reaching a policy result. Alito's opinion drips with disdain for public service unions. Meanwhile, without agency fees, non-members can become free loaders.