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Dem lawmakers plead with Mich. governor to veto right-to-work bill
Congressional Democrats on Monday pleaded with Gov. Rick Snyder (R) to veto legislation that would make Michigan a right-to-work state.
Senior lawmakers met with Snyder in Detroit and urged him not to sign the law on union dues, which has moved quickly through the lame-duck session of the Republican-controlled Michigan Legislature over the vocal opposition of labor leaders.
Ratification would make Michigan — a stronghold of organized labor — the 24th state in the country to pass right-to-work legislation that bans required payment of union dues.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said the lawmakers warned Snyder that the law would create upheaval and strain relations between business and labor in the state.
Measures that would affect private and public sector unions have moved through Michigan’s Senate and House. Final action is expected on Tuesday by state legislators, and Snyder will likely sign the bill soon after that.
President Obama will be visiting Michigan on Monday to speak at the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, and he is expected to weigh in against the bill, potentially raising the stakes for both sides.
Levin noted the right-to-work measure is attached as a rider to an appropriations bill. Critics fear that procedure could make it nearly impossible to overturn the union provision through referendum.
“We also urged the governor to allow the people to vote on the matter and not let a parliamentary gimmick squelch the voice of the people by denying a referendum or a vote by the people through that appropriation line, which is apparently is in the bill during a lame-duck session,” Levin said.
Along with Levin, Michigan Democrats Reps. John Dingell, John Conyers, Sandy Levin, Gary Peters, Hansen Clark and Dave Curson attended the meeting with Snyder. Rep.-elect Dan Kildee also attended.
Right-to-work laws ban the practice of requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment. Republicans and business groups typically back right-to-work laws as beneficial for the economy and say they give workers more choice. Democrats and labor strongly oppose them and say they are designed to curb the power of unions.
Snyder had pledged in the past to not sign a right-to-work law, calling it a divisive issue. In reversing his position, he blamed unions.
Last month, unions campaigned for a ballot initiative known as Proposal 2 that would have enshrined collective bargaining rights in the state constitution. That failed at the polls, but Snyder said the initiative put labor relations on his agenda.
Union officials contend that Republicans are moving now because they lost seats in the Legislature in November's elections. Once the new Legislature is sworn in next year, the party likely would not have enough votes to pass a right-to-work law.
Democrats from Capitol Hill strongly urged Snyder to back away from the bill. Dingell said he told Snyder, who is up for reelection in 2014, that he wouldn’t want this legislation to be part of his legacy.
“This is going to create an entirely bad relationship in this state between labor and management, between citizen and citizen,” Dingell said.
Speaking on the phone to reporters, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said she warned Snyder about the bill last week.
“The governor said he didn't want to be Wisconsin. Well, this is Wisconsin,” Stabenow said, comparing the controversy to the battle in Wisconsin over Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) move to ban collective bargaining rights for some public workers.
Also mimicking Wisconsin, Michigan’s proposed right-to-work would exempt police and firefighter unions.
Protests already have been frequent in Lansing, the state capital, against the bill and union activists are planning another rally there for Tuesday. Protesters are expected to rally outside of Snyder’s home on Monday.
— This story was updated at 5:27 p.m.
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