- 1
- 2
- next
- | single page
Gov. Rick Snyder was right on one thing, right-to-work is a divisive issue.
Thousands crowded the Capitol Tuesday to be heard on the law that makes it illegal for union membership to be required as a condition of employment.
Pro-union groups staged massive demonstrations on the lawn and in the gallery to be heard as the Michigan House took the final approving votes on the legislative package and the governor quickly signed it.
Crowds have been estimated between 12,000 to 18,000 in Lansing. Many travelled across the state, some in busses, to be heard.
Dorothy Johnson, 1st Congressional Democratic Party chairperson and a Chippewa County resident, made her way to Lansing with her husband because she wanted to "be a voice on the Capitol lawn."
"We were down the week before when people got locked out of the Capitol," Johnson said, referring to when police temporarily shuttered the doors last week during the right-to-work vote. "I think that is one reason it was so important for us to go down a second time, to be sure the people's voice was heard, if not in the gallery or the voting process, then just the process that should have taken place ahead of the vote when it went into committee."
Johsons says that was taken away from union supporters and now hopes the process will shift immediately to finding opponents for "every member of the House and Senate that voted against working people by voting for right-to-work.
Right-to-work supporters backed Republican lawmakers from the stairs and lawn at the Capitol, though outnumbered. At one point in the day, two tents erected by the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity were overrun.
Tom Swenor, a Melrose Township resident, went to Lansing after reading the Detroit Free Press' articles during the weekend on right-to-work and feeling like the supporting message about job creation was one-sided. He was among the conservatives who struggled to keep the RTW tents standing.
"We held the corner of that tent as long as we could before they broke in," Swenor said. Swenor said it was a said moment holding up the tent as long as possible, until private security finally came to telling them to give up the tent.
"It was disgraceful," Swenor said.
The activism Tuesday had little impact on how Republicans lawmakers would vote.
State Rep. Greg MacMaster, a Kewadin Republican who cosponsored the right-to-work legislation in the House, called the crowd the largest he had ever seen and "amazing," though it did not sway his opinion.
"They chanted, had their signs, there was a little bit of mayhem, but that is the political democratic process," MacMaster said.
MacMaster said he felt compelled to support the legislation on the campaign trail in 2010 and said he stood by that regardless of any future political consequences.
"It's been a done deal since I campaigned on it," said state Rep. Frank Foster, R-Petoskey. "If it came up for a vote, I was always going to vote on it."
Gov. Snyder issued a statement following the signing to say, "workers deserve the right to decide for themselves whether union membership benefits them."
"It's a sad day for the middle class and the state of democracy in Michigan when legislation that harms workers is successfully rushed through the process without any hearings or debate," said House Minority Leader Richard Hammel, D-Morris Township, in a statement.
The issue is deeply personal for union members, who see the new law as a way to erode their quality of life.
Thousands crowded the Capitol Tuesday to be heard on the law that makes it illegal for union membership to be required as a condition of employment.
Pro-union groups staged massive demonstrations on the lawn and in the gallery to be heard as the Michigan House took the final approving votes on the legislative package and the governor quickly signed it.
Crowds have been estimated between 12,000 to 18,000 in Lansing. Many travelled across the state, some in busses, to be heard.
Dorothy Johnson, 1st Congressional Democratic Party chairperson and a Chippewa County resident, made her way to Lansing with her husband because she wanted to "be a voice on the Capitol lawn."
"We were down the week before when people got locked out of the Capitol," Johnson said, referring to when police temporarily shuttered the doors last week during the right-to-work vote. "I think that is one reason it was so important for us to go down a second time, to be sure the people's voice was heard, if not in the gallery or the voting process, then just the process that should have taken place ahead of the vote when it went into committee."
Johsons says that was taken away from union supporters and now hopes the process will shift immediately to finding opponents for "every member of the House and Senate that voted against working people by voting for right-to-work.
Right-to-work supporters backed Republican lawmakers from the stairs and lawn at the Capitol, though outnumbered. At one point in the day, two tents erected by the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity were overrun.
Tom Swenor, a Melrose Township resident, went to Lansing after reading the Detroit Free Press' articles during the weekend on right-to-work and feeling like the supporting message about job creation was one-sided. He was among the conservatives who struggled to keep the RTW tents standing.
"We held the corner of that tent as long as we could before they broke in," Swenor said. Swenor said it was a said moment holding up the tent as long as possible, until private security finally came to telling them to give up the tent.
"It was disgraceful," Swenor said.
The activism Tuesday had little impact on how Republicans lawmakers would vote.
State Rep. Greg MacMaster, a Kewadin Republican who cosponsored the right-to-work legislation in the House, called the crowd the largest he had ever seen and "amazing," though it did not sway his opinion.
"They chanted, had their signs, there was a little bit of mayhem, but that is the political democratic process," MacMaster said.
MacMaster said he felt compelled to support the legislation on the campaign trail in 2010 and said he stood by that regardless of any future political consequences.
"It's been a done deal since I campaigned on it," said state Rep. Frank Foster, R-Petoskey. "If it came up for a vote, I was always going to vote on it."
Gov. Snyder issued a statement following the signing to say, "workers deserve the right to decide for themselves whether union membership benefits them."
"It's a sad day for the middle class and the state of democracy in Michigan when legislation that harms workers is successfully rushed through the process without any hearings or debate," said House Minority Leader Richard Hammel, D-Morris Township, in a statement.
The issue is deeply personal for union members, who see the new law as a way to erode their quality of life.
