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Forum Post: Fight "Right to Work" ! | Petition

Posted 11 years ago on Dec. 13, 2012, 1:02 a.m. EST by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR
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Groups vow to push ‘right to work’ in other states

Worker Rights Petition: http://signon.org/sign/right-to-work-is-wrong-1

Petition Statement

Please support Michigan workers and vote against the so-called "right to work" bill. Instead of attacking worker's rights, the Michigan legislature should focus on the issues they were sent to address: creating good-paying jobs for Michiganders.

Petition Background

A group of right-wing politicians in Lansing want to push through a harmful "right to work" bill in Michigan. In states that have passed so-called "right to work" laws, wages are lower and worker injuries are more common. Tell Michigan lawmakers to protect workers and vote against the so-called "right to work" bill.

By Felicia Sonmez and David A. Fahrenthold, Wednesday, December 12, 5:34 PM

LANSING, Mich. — The conservative groups that supported Michigan’s new “right to work” law — winning a stunning victory over unions, even in the heart of American labor — vowed Wednesday to replicate that success elsewhere.

But the search for the next Michigan could be difficult.

National unions, caught flat-footed in the Wolverine State, pledged to offer fierce opposition wherever the idea crops up next. They consider the laws a direct attack on their finances and political clout at at time when labor influence is already greatly diminished.

In addition, few Republican governors who could enact such legislation seem eager to bring the fight to their states.

“There is not much of a movement to do it,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett told a Philadelphia radio station this week, according to the Associated Press. His lack of enthusiasm was shared by two other governors who have battled with unions, Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and Ohio’s John Kasich.

Right-to-work measures like the one Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed Tuesday allow workers to opt out of paying union dues. Advocates say the laws, now in force in 24 states, offer employees greater freedom and make states more competitive in attracting jobs.

“If Michigan can do it, then I think everybody ought to think about it,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. He said he thinks at least one more state will adopt such a law before the end of 2013, and listed Alaska, Missouri, Montana and Pennsylvania among the top contenders. “Very confident. It will happen. [But] I can’t tell you where the next one is.”

The boisterous protesters who had stormed Michigan’s State Capitol in Lansing on Tuesday were gone on Wednesday, dispersed after Snyder signed the legislation.

Only about 30 demonstrators stood in front of the building on Wednesday, their mouths covered in duct tape that said, “$1,500 Less.” The figure represents the difference in the average annual salary of workers in right-to-work states compared with states without such laws, protest organizers said.

Andy Schor, a Democratic state representative-elect, said the push for the right-to-work measure was part of “a national effort” by outside conservative groups to undercut union power. “We’re the next domino to fall here in Michigan,” he said.

Opponents of the law said they are considering their options, including a possible legal challenge and stepped-up campaigning against Snyder, who will face reelection in 2014.

In a telephone interview, Snyder — who had repeatedly said he would not sign a right-to-work measure — sought to explain how he had changed his mind. The first-term governor, elected during the GOP wave of 2010, said he had been encouraged by the example of Indiana, which passed a right-to-work bill this year.

But Snyder said Michigan’s labor movement was partly to blame for pursuing a ballot measure this year that would have added protections for collective bargaining. It failed, helping spur the push for the legislation signed Tuesday.

“ ‘You’re opening up the whole realm of labor issues, including right-to-work, so I would expect to see a big push for right-to-work. So please, don’t go ahead,’ ” Snyder said he told labor groups, adding: “They ignored that advice.”

Labor expert Richard Hurd of Cornell University estimated that unions in Michigan might expect to lose 20 percent to 30 percent of their revenue, although precise figures are difficult to gauge. Before Indiana, the last state to make the change to a right-to-work system was Oklahoma in 2001.

In the 26 states without such legislation, conservatives have a renewed sense of hope. “I support this goal on the national and state level and look forward to Kentucky joining Michigan in the near future,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said in a statement.

Even in blue New Jersey, a major backer of right-to-work bills said the shift this week in Lansing had changed some minds.

“I think that what happened in Michigan sent a signal that people in states with histories of strong unions are now open to a new perspective,” said state Assemblywoman Amy H. Handlin (R).

On the other hand, national labor officials said Wednesday that they are confident that no other states will follow Michigan’s lead in the near future.

“In terms of bigger, bluer, more-union states, we’re not worried that this is going to lead to a new anti-union push in those states,” said Eddie Vale, spokesman for Workers’ Voice, a super PAC associated with the AFL-CIO. “There still will be state battles, but I think that we’re getting to the end of the 2010 tea-party wave rather than a resurgence of them.”

On Wednesday, a survey of state leaders found that a law like Michigan’s would still face significant obstacles in many places.

In some cases, the roadblock is a Democratic governor. Conservatives have hopes for a right-to-work law in Montana, but Gov.-elect Steve Bullock (D) said he would oppose one: “I don’t think that’s what we need to build our economy.”

The situation is similar in New Hampshire. “I would veto it if it came to my desk,” Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan (D) said in a telephone interview on Wednesday. In both Kentucky and Missouri, Democratic governors also have spoken against such laws.

In Maine, Paul LePage (R) has said that he supports right-to-work legislation but is likely to run into opposition in the soon-to-be-Democratic state legislature.

Said state Rep. Tom Winsor (R):, a longtime supporter of right-to-work legislation: “I’m not the brightest bulb, but I can count noses.”

Even GOP-controlled states were leery on Wednesday.

“If I could wave a magic wand, I would do it tomorrow. But in terms of trying to get it through our legislative process, it is a very heavy lift,” said David Patti, president of the Pennsylvania Business Council. Would a right-to-work bill pass there? “No,” Patti said flatly.

In Ohio, a state with a Republican governor and Republican legislature, citizen activists have reached the same conclusion. An effort is underway to go around the state’s politicians and put a right-to-work measure on the ballot next year.

“When we didn’t see any interest necessarily in the statehouse, we said, ‘Hey, we’re going to move forward,’ ” said Chris Littleton of the group Ohioans for Workplace Freedom. They need 386,000 signatures by next July.

How many do they have? “It’s safe to say we’re under 100,000,” he said.

Fahrenthold reported from Washington.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/groups-vow-to-push-right-to-work-in-other-states/2012/12/12/2310311a-447c-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_story.html?hpid=z1

Worker Rights Petition: http://signon.org/sign/right-to-work-is-wrong-1

54 Comments

54 Comments


Read the Rules
[-] 1 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

Signed & forwarded.

Thx. Good effort.

[Removed]

[-] -2 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Probably should have posted this on the OWS thread, oops.

[-] 3 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

It's all good.

[Removed]

[-] -1 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Drowning the American Dream in the sludge holding pond Gasoline prices are expected to plunge to under $3/gallon across much of the US by year's end. Since when was that considered a bargain? Since getting screwed by rich people became the new normal, that's when. Gasoline is nothing but oil refinery waste that we've been trained to think of as precious. We've always exported millions of barrels of the stuff through every period of 'shortage' at the pump.

We're really swimming in the stuff since Obama eliminated the gas guzzling incentives put in place by Bush and previous Republican administrations. Fully 30% of refined fuel is currently exported which makes that our largest 'manufactured' export. Although... that has a lot to do with us simply not making much of anything here anymore.

A report from The Head Spy, the Director of National Intelligence, estimates that we will be energy independent in 20 years, of course that has a lot to do with another big bullet point of the report. We won't be a major economic player in the world anymore with China in full ascendancy. Well hell, they will have passed us by after their next 'five year plan'. Are you old enough to remember when the Communist 'five year plan' was a big joke? That was 32 years ago, before we elected the man who made it possible for Republicans to send us down the path to third world status.

Back to the price of gas, why is it going down now? The corporate media says it's because the supply is so high. But the supply has always been high, that didn't keep them from running up the price. Gasoline prices are set by the Commodity Futures market with 90% of the trading done by Wall Street banks. That is ever since this practice was decriminalized with the creation of the Enron loophole. Remember Enron screwing us on electricity? They didn't get bailed out like Wall Street did after doing the same thing. They went to prison, but that was another time.

What we do have a large supply of is Senator Elizabeth Warren. Gasoline started down the same day it was revealed that she would be joining the Senate Banking Committee. This is unheard of for a freshman Senator, so is a real decline in the price of gasoline.

If the price of gasoline stays down, and that appears a real possibility, as the Dodd-Frank Act forces banks out of the gasoline business. If it is finally enforced we could see a real economic upturn with an additional million new jobs in 2013. This would be above the previously predicted 3 million new jobs according to Moody's. Consumer prices that have already been adjusted to allow for gasoline in excess of $4/gallon could fall sharply adding to consumer demand.

Given this rosy outlook for the economy, Obama has no reason to panic about the Fiscal Bunny Slope, and it appears that he is well aware of it. Republicans have set upon a strategy of dismantling the economy at the state level by pushing for Right to Work for Less laws. Not reported in the corporate media is that the real union killer in these laws are provisions that require Unions to provide expensive representation for non-union workers in their 'union shop'. Companies can simply nickel and dime the union local by bringing 'unjust' actions against workers that cost the union $2000-$3000 a pop to resolve. As the costs go up, the dues go up and dues paying members become scarce. Forget about striking, a lock-out is more likely as the company knows that the union can't afford a strike. This drives down wages and having a union begins to seem pointless.

Obama just appeared at a Union plant in Michigan and made it clear that these right-to-work laws are all about politics and not economics. Becoming a low wage state to compete with southern states for European car factory jobs just means even lower wages in the south. Forget about owning the modern equivalent of Ford's Model T on the wages Republicans want to pay, you can walk to work from the shanty town down by the sludge holding pond. But hey, you can have a bucket of sludge for free. http://www.prairie2.com/

[Removed]

[-] -1 points by 1sealyon (434) 11 years ago

Well since the oil corp profit on a gallon of gas in about $ 0.03 and the Gov gas tax averages $ 0.46 who should we blame for high gas prices?

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Price Gouging Big Oil!!!!

[-] -1 points by 1sealyon (434) 11 years ago

Well you might be right. What was after tax profit as a % of revenue for Exxon last year?

They made $ 32 B after tax on about ~ $ 420 B in revenue. 7.6% profit.

Starbucks made 9.4%. Why are you silent about coffee gouging?

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Let's deal with the WORST OFFENDERS first! OIL! By their (BIG FOSSIL) fraud and coercion, were are inappropriately, erroneously dependent on oil.

[-] -1 points by Theeighthpieceuv8 (-32) from Seven Sisters, Wales 11 years ago

Companies and municipalities both have been using the expensive grievance process against unions for years now, this is not a new development, or the result of "right to work." Nor is this strategy of bankrupting the union confined to Republicans; in fact, it was Democrat owned municipalities, often headed by elected attorneys, who pioneered it

[-] -1 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

WTH?:

nidlaxto

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nidlaxto said 35 minutes ago at Dec. 13, 2012, 11:35 p.m. EST (delete)

Economy will never get better while the dumb knee grow is in office

[-] 1 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

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GirlFriday said 1 minute ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:10 a.m. EST (delete) Havin' fun?

GirlFriday said 2 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:09 a.m. EST (delete) How you doin' jack ass?

GirlFriday said 2 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:09 a.m. EST (delete) Hey look, our little fucktwit is back!

nidlaxto said 4 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:07 a.m. EST (delete) US to send patriot missiles to Turkey to defend against Syria. What do you think of your dumb knee grow hero, the war monger


He's a regular. Probably quite young. Doesn't have the balls for a direct confrontation. Yep, get these consistently.

[-] 1 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Did he PM you, too?

Obviously he did.

I posted mine to get someone to tell me what it was. Is that what you're do'n?

Kinda crypto-weirdo?

[-] 3 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

I see now who yr talkin about. he/she has sent me offensive pm's since he's been here & in his last incarnation. he'll be back.

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Oh well, he's harmless. Can't you tell when it's male or female?

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

I guess I assume male. He just sent me a message vowing to return.

His hate & misery are his punishment. And he is more comic relief in any event. Can't take such an ignorant, hatefulness seriously. He's a joke.

[-] 1 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

I am posting mine as he sends them. It's unfortunate that you receive these pms. However, this has been going on for over a year for many of us. Don't let it get to you. He is a weak little wannabe. He desperately wants to appear as a thug.

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

nidlaxto's sent me some racist, homophobic PM's as well. Glad he's been banned

[-] 1 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

He'll be back.

[-] 3 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

Damn them all to HEEEELLLLLL!

[-] -1 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Wow how GF of you.

He did me again, I gave him this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm5iA4Zupek ~ A toast for the Douchebags!

[-] 0 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

Hey! Don't start with me or I shall post a bunch of jacked up love songs and kill you with kindness.

I already signed a petition regarding this issue through a union.

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Meme of the day: What if the Vics were all Billionaires??

Spread liberally over infected areas!

[-] 0 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

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GirlFriday said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:41 a.m. EST (delete) Oh, look at the little Teabagger. You're so cute.

nidlaxto said 6 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:34 a.m. EST (delete) Always putting down the Tea Party and the Rep but dummycrats and libtards do no wrong. One good thing though is the right to work is spreading quickly throughout the States. Big victory for Michigan

[-] 0 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

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GirlFriday said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:44 a.m. EST (delete) Isn't it great that a shit load of uneducated Teabaggers got shown the door?

nidlaxto said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:43 a.m. EST (delete) Isn't it nice to have another "right to work State"??? Maybe someday ole fat ass Trumka can become a greeter at WalMart

[-] 0 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

0 Welcome GirlFriday | logout Language en es fr

OccupyWallStreet The revolution continues worldwide! News LiveStream InfoTent

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GirlFriday said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:49 a.m. EST (delete) The only thing you have going for you is that ........no wait.......you have nothing. But, that's ok. We still like to kick the shit out of you. nidlaxto said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:47 a.m. EST (delete) The only thing ows has going for them is this lame site. ows died before it got started, rapes, thefts, filth, violence and even a murder or two at their demonstrations

[-] 0 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

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GirlFriday said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:55 a.m. EST (delete) So says the Craigslist troll. Bring it, bitch.

nidlaxto said 1 minute ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:53 a.m. EST (delete) You ows loons would not have the energy to fight your way out of a wet paper bag. The majority of you set at home all day (wearing your lay's potato chip hats) and making dumb comments on this forum

[-] 0 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

0 Welcome GirlFriday | logout Language en es fr

OccupyWallStreet The revolution continues worldwide! News LiveStream InfoTent

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GirlFriday said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 10:04 a.m. EST (delete) That must really fuck with your little one floating brain cell, huh? GirlFriday said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 10:03 a.m. EST (delete) I have a full time job, sweet pea.

nidlaxto said 4 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 9:57 a.m. EST (delete) Hey libtard, hope you have a good day glued to your pc chair all day. I am going to go to work now so useless chits like you, can keep on doing what you do!!!!!! NOTHING

[-] 0 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

0 Welcome GirlFriday | logout Language en es fr

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GirlFriday said 0 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 10:10 a.m. EST (delete) Yep, they sure can. I mean look at you.

nidlaxto said 4 minutes ago at Dec. 14, 2012, 10:04 a.m. EST (delete) Anyone can say they have a full time job, etc while hiding behind their pc screen.

[-] -1 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

What's with all these removals, again??

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

Not sure. Guess someone got banned. Probably some abusive RW troll. Do you know whose comments it was.

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

I get a "notifications" entry and I go to it and it's gone. So many!

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

He's been prolific, but there could have been others. I suppose he was particularly angered by your sensible positions. You should feel honored.

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Oh ~ judging by the numerous times I've been frozen or banned ~ I thought I was too radical, not sensible.

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

All a matter of perspective boss. I find it hard to believe you've been banned. Maybe you've crossed some obscenity line?

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Yeah, FUCKING probably!!

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

Fuckin low life pieces of shit!

They will pay for what they did!

LOL

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

27 more! can we end easy guns NOW!!!!!!!

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

disgusting, sick bastard!

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

You're out of replies.

If all these Vics were Billionaires, this problem would have been solved over night.

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

no doubt.

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

http://occupywallst.org/forum/people-please-senselessness-becomes-action-ban-eas/

WTF is going on?!

Just had the mall on this side, now we have a school on the other.

Just all total coincidence.

[-] 3 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

Just sick bastards all over this country. I also saw something on bomb threats over the last month in many court houses of half a dozen states.

Unrelated most likely but also sick, & probably related to the same disease of violence.

I wish the pro gun wackos shut the fuck up and allow reasonable gun control.

[-] -2 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

And when it was still a legitimate political party, Abraham Lincoln was a member of the RepubliCon Cult! He did many favors for the Big Biz of the day, the Rail Roads, and they in turn did many favors for him. And we all remember Dixiecrats. No more, some things never change, some do.

The RepubliCon-1% Class War on Workers:

How the Bitter Losers of 2012 Rammed Through a Union-Destroying Bill in Michigan

It's a political declaration of war against opponents who had beaten the GOP fair and square on the electoral field.

December 12, 2012 |

The lightning-quick adoption of union-busting ‘right-to-work’ legislation in Michigan this week by an outgoing, lame-duck Legislature was a political coup led by vengeful Republicans as payback for their corporate patrons, including the billionaire oil baron Koch brothers and their front group, Americans for Prosperity.

There is no other way to interpret the events of the past few days other than to see it in the starkest of Hobbesian terms: while the state’s GOP still held legislative power, it enacted a bill to undermine the fundraising ability of organized labor—an obsession among right-wingers dating to the 1940s South, when states enacted similar laws to prevent organized labor from helping civil rights activists.

The package of three bills introduced late last week and quickly passed and signed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder makes it illegal for employers and unions to negotiate contracts that require non union-members to pay a fair share of the costs of the union's representation. About 17 percent of Michigan’s workforce is affiliated with a union.

Fast-forward to 2012 and the apparently stalled fiscal-cliff talks in Washington—where GOP House Speaker John Boehner cannot satisfy the Right in another lame duck body—and what emerges is a political landscape as bitter as the worst moments of the 2012 campaign.

Indeed, the outcome of the 2012 elections—nationally and in Michigan, where the GOP resoundingly lost—was irrelevant to those still in power in Michigan. That is why the ram-rodding of the union-busting legislation is a political coup, achieving by fiat what could not pass muster at the voting booth.

Let’s go through these points in more detail to better understand what’s happened.

1.) A Bitter Swipe By 2012’s Losers

Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney in Michigan by about 10 percent of the vote—almost a half-million voters—despite millions spent by the Koch Brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity and other pro-corporate political front groups. Republicans also lost seats in their Legislature, which will take affect in January when new lawmakers are sworn in.

The Democratic gains in large measure depended on the get-out-the-vote efforts by the state’s labor unions, which, as was the case in other Midwestern states, were less visible than the GOP’s front groups that mostly spent millions on TV advertising. The unions' role in the ground game—identifying and registering voters, knocking on doors and making phone calls, and finally getting people to the polls on November 6—was a striking reminder that organizer labor remained a potent grassroots political force.

Thus, Gov. Snyder’s surprise announcement last week that he was reversing his former position that he would not pursue ‘right-to-work’ legislation was a political declaration of war against opponents who had beaten the GOP fair and square on the electoral field.

2.) Right To Work’s Southern Segregationist Roots.

As PRWatch’s Lisa Graves points out in this analysis, the Orwellian-named right-to-work (RTW) laws first emerged in the post-World War II years in southern states that wanted to thwart the civil rights gains made by returning African-American soldiers and labor unions during the war. Twenty states passed RTW laws in the following decades, including many that saw the laws as a tactic to stop unions from helping civil rights organizers.

In the past 25 years before Michigan's coup, only three states have adopted RTW laws: Idaho in 1995; Oklahoma in 2001; and Indiana in 2012. Indeed, as PRWatch points out, the “2012 presidential election map of ‘red’ states looks strikingly close to the RTW map. But the vast majority of ‘blue’ states, like Michigan, have not embraced” the union-busting reform.

3.) Championed by 21st Century Corporatists

It’s no mystery where Michigan’s RTW legislation came from. The aggressively pro-corporate American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, is a policy clearinghouse that recruits newly elected state legislators and meets with them (and long-standing members) and corporate sponsors in private to draft ‘model’ legislation that can be introduced at a moment’s notice in state legislative chambers.

The Center for Media and Democracy has reported that “key provisions of the Michigan RTW bills (for instance, HB 4054) are taken almost verbatim from the ALEC template,” reported its December 11 analysis. “That agenda is part of a corporate wish list of Charles and David Koch, the oil billionaires who have spent millions trying to popularize extremist ideas and move them from the fringes into binding law.”

The Koch Brothers have been pushing anti-union legislation for decades—ever since the passel of mostly southern states stopped passing RTW legislation in the 1980s. One of their former groups, Citizens For A Sound Economy, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, pushed for international trade agreements in the 1980s that forced American labor unions to lower their standards to meet those of overseas trading partners.

Their 21st century front group, Americans for Prosperity, played a leading role in the Wisconsin battles in 2011 and 2012 to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights (with the notable exception of police and firefighters—as their unions tend to support GOP candidates). Those battles led to the unsuccessful campaign to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and other top GOP lawmakers. Tellingly, Michigan’s package of RTW legislation also exempts pro-GOP police and firefighter unions.

4.) A Political Coup In Plain Daylight

Perhaps the most important point about what just happened in Michigan is that is an authoritarian power grab by partisans who are completely dismissive of the electorate—as expressed in the Democratic electoral victories one month ago—and are willing to wield power in a take-no-prisoners fashion akin to recent Third World coups.

The power dynamic that just unfolded resembles the arrest and dismissal of Mali’s prime minister by a military junta—which also happened this week—or the recent presidential decrees in Egypt that placed that county’s new president above the rule of law. These power grabs happened because those enacting them could get away with it—at least temporarily.

It’s very telling that such political abuses of power come before newly elected legislators are poised to take office—in what’s known as ‘lame-duck’ legislative sessions. Perhaps the thinking of these outgoing legislators is that they have nothing to lose by striking at foes in a manner that they could not achieve at the ballot box.

That viewpoint also seems to be very much at play in Congress right now, as well, where right-wingers are ignoring the results of the 2012 presidential election and pushing for another long-held corporatist agenda item: dismantling safety net retirement programs.

Steven Rosenfeld covers democracy issues for AlterNet and is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting" (AlterNet Books, 2008).

[-] -1 points by Theeighthpieceuv8 (-32) from Seven Sisters, Wales 11 years ago

I don't give a shit about politics. What I see is two parties that are pro-party and anti-American; neither one is good for the American worker. Or for the American worker/ taxpayer. The people of Michigan rejected Prop 2; it seems only fitting now that they seek remuneration for what they determined to be an abuse of union political power.

I'm going to tell you something else too - while it is true that unions have historically returned more money and better benefits, this does not necessarily equate to better employment. Some people don't like the loss of upward mobility; they don't like the idea of their livelihoods being politicized. And they really hate the corruption. Some people, believe it or not, still take pride in their work and the union environment stifles all that.

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

How very odd. You say you "don't give a shit about politics," then you hurtle right into political diatribe.

A lot of people who, in the political world we call Rightie Bullshitters, do that on a regular basis. Sort of a hamfisted imitation of Ronnie Raygun's old bullshitting tactic of telling anecdotes so that dummies wouldn't think he was talking politics, when he really was.

Unions cause "corruption and the loss of upward mobility and pride"? You'd better tell corporations about this, cuz not only are they kind of a union but they have big unions called Chambers of Commerce, and they love them! Record profits, too.

And what about the Union Cops, Firefighters and Fox Lies Announcers?

Admit it, you don't like unions, like most devious righties, because unions bring democracy to the work place, and righties who don't give a shit about politics prefer dictatorships or even better, Kingdoms!

The 99% People have spoken, they don't want 1%-RepubliCon trickledown, supplyside, race to the bottom, slavewage, redistribution of wealth to the top 1% economics. They are sick and tired of being held hostage and suppressed under the tyranny of the 1%.

[-] -2 points by Theeighthpieceuv8 (-32) from Seven Sisters, Wales 11 years ago

I don't like unions. I don't like job "titles" or classifications that limit; I don't like the idea of employment being politicized; I don't like the idea of labor relegated to a secondary role; I don't like dues; I don't like being sold out; I don't like corruption and I don't like the power entities that it thrives in.

And it's all immaterial anyway. Because as any young person can tell you the future does not lie with corporations; it lies in self-employment. Which is destined to be a sad realization for a government that cannot exist without mucho revenue.

[-] 1 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

It's a cruel and beautiful world. The Working Class could use a little more beauty and a lot less CRUEL. It doesn't matter what you LIKE about it! Unions are the Working Class' Big Brother, Cops and Agents.

"Self employed future, saddened bankrupt government,"? OK, UR done.

[-] 0 points by Theeighthpieceuv8 (-32) from Seven Sisters, Wales 11 years ago

Tell that to the young people who can't find employment - they're all going self employed because they have no choice. The unions are done... they left with our corporations; they just don't realize it yet.

[-] 0 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 11 years ago

Look up, dreary one, it the Powers That Be who rule that nest, not labor!!!

[-] 0 points by Theeighthpieceuv8 (-32) from Seven Sisters, Wales 11 years ago

The powers that be no longer have labor to rule over; they're gone. They left Michigan long ago due to declining employment opportunity and quality of life issues. It began with the 12th Street riot, which I'm sure you realize, was presided over by Mit's father, George W. Romney.

[-] 1 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

I guess the working class fled Detroit Michigan to avoid the school/housing desegregation imposed by the courts huh? Like the rest of the countries cities.?

Once the tax base left, services were cut, jobs moved to the suburbs, and poverty fed crime and continued a spiral down that isstill unfolding in some cities.

Other cities have recovered.