Watch Big Michigan 'Right to Work' for Less Actions Live

12/11/2012

Watch Big Michigan 'Right to Work' for Less Actions Live

UPDATE: Republican Michigan lawmakers who’ve rammed “right to work” for less legislation through the state House and Senate, didn’t have to do much original work in drafting the anti-worker law. They just turned to model legislation playbook from the extremist American Legislative Council (ALEC) and copied verbatim. Take a look at this side-by-side comparison from our friends at the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

UPDATE: Last week, when Michigan Republicans in the state House and Senate rammed through “right to work” for less legislation, they tried to ensure the measure would never come before voters by including an appropriation, which, under Michigan law, means it cannot be put to a “citizens veto” referendum. This morning, House Republicans defeated an amendment to eliminate the funding that would have made right to work referendum-eligible in 2013 and, if qualified for the ballot, delayed the law’s implementation.

But with a higher signature threshold, Michigan working families can put an initiative on the 2014 ballot to overturn the “right to work” for less law. It also would force Snyder and his Republican colleagues running for re-election to defend their undemocratic steamrolling of the bill through the legislature.

UPDATE:Estimates from the Michigan State Police peg the crowd at more than 10,000 people outside the Capitol in Lansing and some 2,500 inside.

UPDATE: As today’s big action gets under way, a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) refutes Gov. Rick Snyder’s (R) claims and those of other backers of “right to work” for less that such laws boost a state’s economy, draw new businesses and grow jobs. The report looks at the impact of "right to work" in Indiana—which Snyder cited as a success model—and finds no proof that a single company moved to the state because of “right to work” or that the law has significantly impacted Hoosier job growth. Read the report.

Today, thousands of people are coming together in Lansing, Mich., to march on the state Capitol to fight back against Gov. Rick Snyder’s (R) and Republican legislators’ steamrolling “right to work” for less legislation without public debate or hearings.

The UAW will live-stream portions of the march and rally. Here is the Ustream link and you can visit the UAW Facebook page for live-streaming updates.

You also can follow the action at http://wearemich.org/ or Michigan AFL-CIO on Twitter.

(this is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO Blog Now as of 12/11/12 4:00 p.m. CST)

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Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Blog

12/11/2012