Teamster Nation: More protests in MI as Dems tell Snyder to back off

Monday, December 10, 2012

More protests in MI as Dems tell Snyder to back off

Local 4 News photo. Nurses protesting RTW4Less today in Lansing.

The Washington Post headline tells the story: “Right to work” push guarantees all out war in Michigan.

Michigan's congressional delegation today told Gov. Rick Snyder to veto the bill as a third day of protests broke out. Tomorrow is expected to bring a historic number of protesters to a Day of Action in Lansing. Already we hear from @Eclectablog that Michigan State Police will be "barricading the City of Lansing" tomorrow.

Today, we're hearing about a silent protest in Grand Rapids, a rally outside U.S. Rep. Dan Benishek's office in the Upper Peninsula and anti-RTW4Less caroling in Ann Arbor. Nurses just now held a protest on the Capitol steps. ClickOnDetroit.com reports,

Members of the Michigan Nurses Association are protesting right-to-work legislation at the state Capitol by covering their mouths with tape.

About a dozen nurses stood on the Capitol steps in Lansing on Monday morning. Organizers say the gathering was meant to symbolize the silencing of unions that nurses say will happen should the legislation become law.

Katie Oppenheim, who works at the University of Michigan Health System, says the legislation would leave them with "no security" and "no rights."

The members of Congress met with Snyder this morning. The Washington Post reports they told him,

If you go forward with “right to work” legislation, you’ll be consigning the state to years of discord and division. They urged him to consider vetoing the legislation or postponing it until the next session — or even agreeing to subject it to referendum.

According to Dems who were on the call, Snyder told them he would “seriously” take into account their objections — which they took as a genuine indication of possible willingness, for now, to reconsider.

The Atlantic asks, Can Last-Minute Secret Meetings Save Union Rights in Michigan After All? And then concludes; Probably not.