Today (Thursday, Nov. 29th) there was a large contingency of statewide MEA members and staff who met at the Capitol building to lobby Michigan senators and house representatives regarding the Right to Work legislation that I wrote about in the post below! (Be sure to read this to understand the serious consequences the passage of this legislation would have!)
As an MEA member and WLEA member I was most grateful for the number of people, in concert with AFL-CIO members and others, who were there protecting the rights of the middle class to join together to have their voices heard! It was a true demonstration of democracy at work……as a former social studies teacher, it truly was our government working as it should!
Thank you everyone here in Walled Lake who called and wrote Governor Snyder and their representatives urging them to reconsider their votes on the RTW bill.
The results of today? It is being reported by MIRS News Agency that RTW is being set aside for more conversations to be able to occur. The Governor met with labor leaders, including the MEA president, yesterday, and was meeting with the Republican leaders of the legislature today while union members waited in the vestibule outside his office in the capitol building. The report from that meeting is that RTW would not be considered this week, and the governor wants Republican leaders and labor leaders to speak together. There are some rumors of a proposal of RTW-lite…..meaning that the legislature would only apply the law to public employees…..which would be highly unacceptable.
In any case, I truly believe everyone's efforts over the last few days and today resulted in the government's slow-down in passing this legislation. Another lobby day is being planned for next Tuesday when the issue is expected to resurface. It was very clear today that the Governor and others are anticipating that this issue is volatile. Personally, I saw no hostility, only very sincere people who only wanted to speak to their government representatives.
