Thousands of protesters outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan showed up Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, to protest the signing of the right-to-work bill by Gov. Rick Snyder who is supposed to sign the bill today or tomorrow. Jusin Wan/The State News.
Update, 6:18 p.m. : Gov. Rick Snyder announced in a press conference Tuesday afternoon he has signed both right-to-work bills into law.
The bills both were passed Tuesday by the state House of Representatives, 58-51 and 58-52 and were expected to be signed by Snyder in the coming days. But Snyder announced he decided to sign them, and said he looks at the move as “getting this issue behind us.”
“(I’m) confident this is in the best interest of Michiganders,” Snyder said. “I think it’s a great statement for workers in Michigan.”
With the bills passed, Michigan employees at unionized companies will be able to opt out of joining a union.
LANSING – The state House of Representatives passed two right-to-work bills, 58-51 and 58-52 on Tuesday.
By making Michigan a right-to-work state, employees at unionized companies would have the opportunity to opt out of joining a union.
The legislation now goes to Gov. Rick Snyder, who is expected to sign the bill into law.
Thousands of people gathered Tuesday on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol in protest of recent legislation, including The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil-rights leader.
Diane Petryk, an MSU instructor and a part of Union of Nontenure Track Faculty at MSU, was at Tuesday’s protest as well as a smaller protest at the Capitol last Thursday.
“Our grandfathers died on the picket lines of Flint and Detroit to give us an 8 hour day (and) safe working conditions,” Petryk said. “The very concept of a weekend is because of unions, and this is an attempt to destroy unions.”
Fisheries and wildlife freshman Nick Everett decided to join the protestors even though he doesn’t approve of the legislation.
“I don’t really like right-to-work, but I really don’t like the way they went about the process, so I thought I would come out and show support,” Everett said.
Unions, including the MSU Graduate Employees Union, have opposed the legislation because it could give non-union members the same benefits from collective bargaining without paying dues.
Keep checking statenews.com for updates .
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