Reid: Michigan right-to-work legislation an 'assault' on unions

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday criticized efforts by state Republican legislators in Michigan to enact a "right-to-work" law, arguing that the move was part of an effort to undercut union power nationwide.

Michigan's legislature is set to vote on the bill in about a week.

The right-to-work legislation bans unions from requiring members to pay dues while also earning benefits that were negotiated between unions and employers. Critics of the legislation say it dramatically undercuts unions' bargaining power.

"This is a blatant attempt by Michigan Republicans to assault the collective bargaining process and undermine the standard of living it has helped foster," Reid said in a statement on Monday. "This effort continues a dangerous trend set by Republican-led state legislatures across the nation, and it is another instance of the Tea Party needlessly sowing division and setting Republicans' economic agenda.

"Elected officials, labor leaders and business leaders can and should work towards the common goals of job creation, improving our economy and strengthening middle-class families. But this partisan power grab is a setback to prospects for compromise."

Reid's comments came the same day that opponents of the law are holding protests at Michigan's capital in Lansing. Those protests are a warm-up to much larger onces on Tuesday, according to the Detroit Free Press.

In a conference call on Monday, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said he and other Democratic members of the Michigan delegation met with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and voiced their opposition to the right-to-work legislation. 

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