Verne Strickland Blogmaster / December 7, 2012
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By Karen Bouffard and Chad Livengood
The
House and Senate each passed bills on the same day they were introduced
that give private and public sector workers the right to avoid paying
union dues in an organized workplace. Only police officers and
firefighters would be exempt.
The package can't reach final
completion until at least Tuesday because of procedural rules that
require a five-day layover for two of the bills before they can be voted
on in the other chamber.
That gives opponents more time to lobby
against the legislation, like they did Thursday starting in the early
morning when word spread the bills would be introduced, to late evening
when the Senate finally adjourned.
The historic legislation passed
over the thunderous chanting from thousands of workers who descended on
the Capitol, resulting in at least eight arrests and a temporary
lockdown of the building by Michigan State Police. Democrats in
both chambers staged walkouts and procedural maneuvers to stall passage
while workers protested in and outside the Capitol.
"Young
people don't know the history of labor relations," said Diane Petryk, a
union member from Lansing. "They have an eight-hour day, a weekend,
vacation and more because of labor unions.
"Their grandparents died on the picket lines in Flint, Detroit and other places so that we could have a middle class."
The
Legislature's votes make Michigan the latest focal point in a national
debate over unions — pitting Republicans against Democrats, workers
against employers and business interests against many in the middle
class who believe right to work will roll back gains made over decades
in wages, benefits and working conditions.
Six Republicans in the House and four in the Senate voted against the bills.
Thursday's
actions also come a month after voters defeated a statewide referendum
that would have enshrined collective bargaining rights in the state
constitution. Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing,
denied the November vote was a mandate for right to work.
Conservatives lauded the move.
Glenn
Spencer, vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Workforce
Freedom Initiative, in a press release, said: "Workers in Michigan
should not have to choose between financially supporting a union or
losing their jobs."
Michigan Chamber President and CEO Rich
Studley issued a statement saying: "Passage of this legislation will
help create and retain jobs and improve our state's economic
competitiveness."
But it was condemned by supporters of union
rights, including Whitmer. She pledged to obstruct what she called an
"abomination" and "cowardly act" by Republicans, vowing to use every
parliamentary tool available to bottleneck the legislation.
In the
Senate, Democrats attached numerous amendments to the bill, hoping to
stall its progress. Each — including one to rename the bill the Randy
Richardville Right to Work Act, after the Senate majority leader — was
defeated.
President Barack Obama reiterated his opposition to
right-to-work legislation, saying he believes the economy is "stronger
when workers get good wages and good benefits," and he opposes attempts
to roll back their rights.
White House spokesman Keith Maley said
Michigan workers' role in helping revive the U.S. auto industry shows
"how unions have helped build a strong middle class and a strong
American economy."
'About breaking unions'
"This bill is not about giving people choice. This bill is about
breaking unions," said Rep. Steven Lindberg, D-Marquette. "When we do,
the people in this state and in my district are going to be so much
poorer."
About 2,000 labor supporters had gathered at the Capitol by midafternoon.
They
took over the Capitol steps and tore down a banner of Michigan Freedom
Fund, a group that aired statewide radio and TV ads this week seeking
passage of the bill.
"The working families are not going to lie
down and watch their state go in a negative direction," said UAW
President Bob King outside the Capitol. "Every right-to-work state in
America has lower wages, lower benefits, greater income inequality, more
discrimination, less equality in the workplace. Right to work is wrong
for Michigan."
At one point, there were so many protesters that
Michigan State Police ordered the Capitol closed and no one was allowed
to enter or leave either chamber.
Democrats sought a court order
to reopen the doors, and eventually a judge agreed. That created a minor
problem in the House, where Democratic members went outside to welcome
in protesters, but found themselves locked out of the House chamber.
"I
came out to escort the citizens back into their house … and I was
denied re-entry," said state Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills. She
got back in after calling a staff member.
Democrats were upset
about how quickly the Republican leadership moved the bills. There were
no committee hearings and the bills were instead moved directly to the
floor for votes.
"This is not right," said House Democratic Floor Leader Kate Segal, D-Battle Creek.
In
a meeting with reporters, House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall,
downplayed questions about the lack of a public hearing on the
legislation.
"This issue has been discussed in this session for
almost two years now, and it's been discussed in Michigan for decades,"
he said.
Snyder added: "This topic has been out there for a significant amount of time."
House
Republicans have a 64-46 majority and need 56 votes to pass the bills.
In January, when the new legislative session begins, the GOP majority
will be reduced to 59-51 following the results of the November election.
"You're
doing this in lame duck because you know next session you won't have
the votes," said Rep. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids.
A few
Republican representatives stood on the House floor and defended the
legislation as giving workers a choice about financially backing a labor
union.
"Unions will have the same rights as before, but now workers will have them too," said state Rep. Greg MacMaster, R-Kewadin.
In
arguing against the concept of a right-to-work law, Democrats and labor
union members compared forcing nonunion workers to pay unions agency
fees for collective bargaining benefits to different forms of collective
membership.
Rep. Tim Bledsoe, D-Grosse Pointe, said during floor
debate that there are "compulsory" fees levied on cattle producers and
dairy farmers to generate revenue to market their products.
"Let's
keep these arguments for economic freedom in perspective," he said.
"Compulsory workplace fees are not all that uncommon."
'Freedom to choose'
Snyder said Thursday morning at a packed news conference at his
office in the Romney building across from the Capitol that he wanted the
Legislature to act quickly on the bills and that he would sign them.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn by Dec. 20, but Republicans were hoping to leave town as early as Dec. 13.
Snyder
has long said right-to-work legislation hasn't been on his agenda, but
he changed his view because of Indiana's February passage of a
right-to-work law and increased political pressure to pass the bill in
the Legislature's lame-duck session.
"Workers should have freedom to choose who they associate with," Snyder said.
The
law would apply broadly to the 17.5 percent of Michigan's workforce
that works in unionized workplaces, but contains an exemption for
firefighters and police officers, Snyder said, to be consistent with
state law for binding arbitration.
Bolger said the legislation
would include an appropriation of state money to pay for implementation.
Attaching an appropriation to legislation is a legislative mechanism to
prevent voter-initiated repeals of legislation.
The Legislature will not put the law into effect immediately, so it wouldn't take effect until April 1, Richardville said.
kbouffard@detnews.com
(517) 371-3660
Detroit News Staff Writers David Shepardson and Tony Briscoe contributed.
