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Michigan Workers Jam Capitol to Protest Union Plan
In a scene reminiscent of Wisconsin, hundreds of pro-union protesters jammed the Michigan state Capitol on Tuesday to oppose a bill that would give emergency managers authority to break labor deals to revive failing schools and cities.
About 1,000 pro-union demonstrators gathered on the Capitol steps in Lansing, Michigan, then 400 entered the building to occupy the rotunda and floors overlooking as the Republican state Senate moved the bill toward a final vote expected Wednesday.
New Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's proposal would expand the powers of emergency financial managers who are named to oversee faltering school districts and cities. The House approved the measure in February. Republicans hold a 26-12 Senate majority.
In Wisconsin, protesters occupied the Capitol Building in Madison for weeks to protest new Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposals to limit public sector union powers for collective bargaining and require yearly recertification votes.
With Michigan cities and school districts struggling from the severe recession and potential state funding cuts, the bill expands the power for the state to name financial overseers.
The state's biggest school district, the Detroit Public Schools, was put under the emergency financial management of by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2009. It is the only district in the state under emergency management.
Brent Gillette, political director for the AFL-CIO in Michigan, said he was frustrated that Republicans did not discuss it in advance and sees parallels to the power-reducing union limits proposed in Wisconsin.
"I've heard him say more than once that he wants to be transparent that he wants to talk across the table, he doesn't want this to be Wisconsin," Gillette said of Michigan's Snyder. "Unfortunately, this bill says to me that he wants to take on the same fight as Wisconsin. He just wants to do it from the back door."
Steve Benkovsky, director of Capitol facilities, said demonstrators filled the base of the rotunda, the second and third floor balconies and filtered onto the fourth floor. He estimated the crowd at about 400 inside and 1,000 total.
"They seemed pretty well behaved other than being boisterous," Benkovsky said. No arrests were made.
(Writing by David Bailey)
26 Comments so far
Show AllThey want to break union contracts and do you think they will save the schools or anything else? Think again. They will break union contracts and the schools will still get deep cuts. Class sizes will rise. Public transportation will become more unreliable. Hospitals will close. They will start charging for EMT and fire service. If they break the union contracts, it is a sign to them that they will encounter no resistance to whatever they choose to do.
They will not raise taxes on the rich even 1%. They will continue to hemorrhage our money to war contractors and for killing people. It's part the current Republican and Democratic playbook. The whole idea of comprimising with these people is misguided. They will never stop unless they are stopped.
Most of the pay-4-use things like Ambulance and EMT here in CA are due to privatization, It's incredible to charge some one $3200 for a 10 min ambulance ride but I got hit on one just last year.
Privatization is fine if you can afford it, but for Emergency Medical Care? somebody should be nutered for that idea!
>^^<
RichardsCatz,
it really hurts! I now understand why my daughter friend refuse anymore ambulance services when he got the seizure and rather suffer. A few more similar $$ would have completely wipes him out even before he graduate. He's a junior in CA, UC an honor student.
Richard, when I cry there are no tears and so helpless. life sucks with Obama and the Democrats.
As I see it it's better to drive myself to emergency whilst having a heart-attack. I can just stick my finger in the cigeratte lighter. If i take out a few of the other sheep who support this catch 22 system that'll be ok too?
>^^<
HaHaHa...a real good one. :-)
The ogres in this story are Scott Walker and Rick Snyder. They lead nasty majorities of 19th Century Republican retro-troglodytes in each of their respective State governments. They play from the same playbook as the US national Republican party, a book that, while composed by that insipid group of Rove, Norquist, Gingrich, Lee Atwater (before he repented) and other members of the Birchist and Reaganite cabal, was actually written by the "invisible hand” of Satan himself. They were and are stupidly ushering in the demise of the evil US World Empire. They are useful idiots of the powers of evil. Why is Satan conjuring this course in world history through his chosen ones? Not at the behest of those who would hate the US but rather because , as the evil one might explain (and I believe he is in fact a "cheese eater"), "après le dernier empire du monde, le déluge, ou peut-être, l'enfer".
Obama and the DINO Democrats are only hapless and useful idiots - not the midwives of the conspiracy but only the ones who empty the bedpans . One must always scrupulously attend to the fact that all Republican politicians and the top 1% richest people of the US and world are Satan's minions. They are the ones to condemn first as enemies of humanity and those are the ones to beware.
The whole idea of compromising with these people is misguided. They will never stop unless they are stopped.
-------------------------------------
You are a master of understatement as always, Joe! The idea of compromising with them is not merely misguided, it's plainly self-destructive.
Whether we choose to characterise them in psychological (they're psychopathic) or moralistic (they're evil) terms, they are a constant, never-ending danger to us all.
What's frightening as hell is how long we've *known* how rapacious they are without ever getting together to do anything about it. That's really their most terrifying triumph, or should be: that they've apparently convinced us that they have the *right* to prey on us.
The cartoonist David Horsey is a superb draftsman, but his politics are too often love-me-I'm-a-liberal-ish. But yesterday he drew a brilliant one: http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/files/2011/03/Class-war-3-8-11-color-640x472.jpg
What needs to be repeated until everyone understands reality, is exactly what is Bankrupting the USA. My list please amend as necesssary.
1) NAFTA, WTO and ilk. Remember it was so obvious that NAFTA was going to eliminate a large part of the USA economy that Ross Perot said " That sucking sound you hear are all the USA jobs going abroad."
2) The Bankster Heist loans tailored to fail, bundled into worthless Derivatives sold as AAA securities, and after becoming toxic to the tune of $7 Trillion worldwide and the loss of approximately on average $100,000 of USA families net worth . Billions of USA taxpayers money given to Wall Street on Bushs threat of Marshall Law.
3) Tax breaks to and hoarding by uberrich and Corporations.
4) Three or five criminal wars.
And of course this is all the workers fault.
In Michigan this is not about the budget. This is about a coup against the people.Any school, city, town, or local village could be declared by the governor to be in financial crisis. All non teaching staff would be fired and contracts broken. Those services would be handed over to a business to run for a nice profit of course. All teacher contracts would be null and void. School boards, county commissions, city councils and all local government elected officials would be fired and not be able to run again for 6 yrs. This is a total takeover of our democracy by privating our cities, towns, schools.. Now we all know that the main goal of business is to make a profit and pass the expenses on for someone else to pay. Business have no moral responsibility and no feelings, no working for the common good. $1.7 billion is being taken from our kids, our elderly and our poor, and $1.8 billion is being given to corporations in the form of tax breaks. Rob the poor and give it to the rich. It's not about the budget! This is big government interference at its most ugly. This is not government of the people, by the people and for the people. It is anti-American, anti-worker, and against everything I believe as a person of faith.
In reply to Horace--
Why is a hedge fund manager worthy to make $4 billion dollars a year? Do you really think a unionized teacher with a masters degree and 20 years experience in charge of 165 students per day should only make $40,000 a year? I put in 80 hours a week prepping for classes, teaching, tutoring on Saturdays, mentoring students before and after school, checking papers, and attending extra-curricular activities that my students were involved in. I paid for my own classroom supplies because my school's budget was cut every year. I paid from my own pocket for my students to go to the science museum because it would be a great experience for the students. I cried with my student when he watched his father beat his mother. I was worth every penny and much more. What have you done to make someone else's life better?
Thank you for your true service to our world.
Thank you Maluhia for living in the real world and yet rising above it. I wish you strength to continue. Oh yeah, and a smaller teaching load and a raise!
Thank you Glenn, thank you dreamjoe for the great poets words.
I wish I could help you Maluhia from my lofty pension called social security. Today I so wanted to go to Lansing and give my support but my aged aunt required care because the system is too expensive for her to get non-family care. I'm also broke down, just like the system. Tonight I just feel pain, everyone's pain cause I am too tired to block it out.
As for some people who still want to shoulder their assinine rich quack shit for brains...acquaintenances, friends, family...I say fine, you'll go down with the rest of us.
My brother is reading to cheer himself up, ya,like Revelations will do that. Some of you would benefit by taking the shoe out of your ear Horace...but we have tolerated this sort of inanity too long. I liked the ENOUGH IS ENOUGH signs I saw on the Michigan news. It has snapped. I think people have had enough of the bs and are ready to do what Chris Hedges mentioned. I'd like to see the armed revolt be the linked arms akimbo...but I may be a bit of an idealist.
Shit gonna hit the fan bro.
You just hang in there now!
Today CNN had a story about some ass-clown who thinks the world ends Mar 11 this year. To me it wasn't surprising how many find this comforting. if it can't be fixed, let it go and just leave me alone.. I could almost thank God, if I knew any :)
>^^<
Stonepig, hold on, help is about to reach some sort of critical mass where we, the people, regain consciousness.
Yes, the "enough is enough" signs are good. "Basta" (enough!) was one of the slogans of the Spanish people's struggle against Franco fascism.
Try and get some rest, your aunt needs you and the struggle as well. Take care, Stonepig.
Well-behaved?
“..to oppose a bill that would give emergency managers authority to break labor deals to revive failing schools and cities.” UH, NO. More like he is withdrawing already budgeted School Fund money and moving it out of K-12 to the tune of 500.-700. per pupil. So he is knowingly crashing and then claiming state power in take-over. Then he can sell assets, schools, break contracts, force redistricting... and as a voter in Michigan you don’t count-no more local.. your school boards, your local township or county government can be booted if they can’t absorb Rick’s corporate crisis in their budgets (1.8 Billion welfare to corporations)... and the state manager can call in a corporation to run it! No services for you all- with your tax money- you pay again- because its a budget crisis that is being created before your very eyes.
WAKE up and FIGHT Michigan. Everybody with a conscience and ethics that is. These guys are mean. Michael Moore please film these non-humans for posterity.
Rachel Maddow’s show was excellent tonight on MSNBC. She gave expert coverage of MI Gov. Gateway Rick’s fascist-corporate-take-over-of-everything-public plans. Rick is sneakier than the others, but he has experience as a rich guy now who walked Gateway all the way to China. $1.00 salary.
Don’t forget to thank Granholm (D) and her use of the Obama model now being thumbed.
Michigan lady, thank you tremendously. I have many friends who will receive your very words in copypaste technology. You hit the proverbial nail. Damn, I am not a happy Michgander myself at the moment.
Add my thanks Mich. Lady - very good comments.
Have you noticed the distinct lack of coverage of this issue on PBS's The Newshour? Democracy Now & Maddow are remaining true to reporting.
It could be worth writing a quick "nasty-gram" to PBS's ombudsman. Even he has been complaining about the quashing of anti-war, single payer, anti-invasion voices on PBS.
I smell fear from The Powers That Be.
Thanks. I watched “the Trade” on PBS POV and was mesmerized. The documentary was so informative-about an east coast village of DeWolfs who were the biggest slave traders from Africa. Wonderful stuff. But, PBS must be feeling the heat I think.. I hope it is fear and that it brings changes to all of us that are good for once.
March 15 is another demonstration at the capitol hosted by AARP-show up for that one-especially if you voted for the nerd blindly or just sat home on election day.
Well, we can't really blame the republican voters who voted Snyder as governor. The democrats were doing a piss-poor job. It just sickens me to think we had thirty years to catch on and we just kept on hoping upon hope that, just maybe, we could find a good politition. I'm afraid they are on the verge of extinction. "Shovel ready", if you will. We won't have much of a chance to keep our rights if we don't act now to stop this insanity. Call or email every low-down politition you can find a number for and be enraged. This is all an extension of the NEW WORLD ORDER,AND NORTH AMERICAN UNION. These CORPORATE PIGS THAT WILL TRY TO ERASE US ALL..IT'S TIME TO RECALL THE GOVERNER, RICK SNYDER and FRED UPTON, WHO'S FINGERPRINTS ARE ALL OVER THIS 'TAKEOVER'.
There have been a few new words being used fluently by the repubs, and are the definitions as listed in webster's new expanded dictionary.
AUSTERE - RIGID, STERN,SEVERE,SOUR = REPUBLICANS/DEMOCRATS
OLIGARCHY = A SUPREME GOV'T IN WHICH POWER IS HELD BY A FEW PEOPLE. This is the agenda, and they are rushing it along. Obama has absolutely no control, If he did, he would be dead by now. The supreme court is TOTALLY CORRUPT. The PARTYS (gov't) actually think there some glamorous place for them after this scenenario is over. Not so, they will be thrown under the bus. We will not have jobs(no tax base for them) so who is next in line? The upper-upper class. The media whores who are currently helping them with inaccurate information, and the entire gov't employees that are too chicken to whistle-blow for the benefit of the American People. I sincerely believe that we will own the land. "cause these bastards won;t have the gumption to get their hands dirty' HANG IN THERE FOLKS WE ARE COMING AND HELL IS WITH COMING WITH US........JUST MY OPINION.....Q
Well, we can't really blame the republican voters who voted Snyder as governor. The democrats were doing a piss-poor job. It just sickens me to think we had thirty years to catch on and we just kept on hoping upon hope that, just maybe, we could find a good politition. I'm afraid they are on the verge of extinction. "Shovel ready", if you will. We won't have much of a chance to keep our rights if we don't act now to stop this insanity. Call or email every low-down politition you can find a number for and be enraged. This is all an extension of the NEW WORLD ORDER,AND NORTH AMERICAN UNION. These CORPORATE PIGS THAT WILL TRY TO ERASE US ALL..IT'S TIME TO RECALL THE GOVERNER, RICK SNYDER and FRED UPTON, WHO'S FINGERPRINTS ARE ALL OVER THIS 'TAKEOVER'.
There have been a few new words being used fluently by the repubs, and are the definitions as listed in webster's new expanded dictionary.
AUSTERE - RIGID, STERN,SEVERE,SOUR = REPUBLICANS/DEMOCRATS
OLIGARCHY = A SUPREME GOV'T IN WHICH POWER IS HELD BY A FEW PEOPLE. This is the agenda, and they are rushing it along. Obama has absolutely no control, If he did, he would be dead by now. The supreme court is TOTALLY CORRUPT. The PARTYS (gov't) actually think there some glamorous place for them after this scenenario is over. Not so, they will be thrown under the bus. We will not have jobs(no tax base for them) so who is next in line? The upper-upper class. The media whores who are currently helping them with inaccurate information, and the entire gov't employees that are too chicken to whistle-blow for the benefit of the American People. I sincerely believe that we will own the land. "cause these bastards won;t have the gumption to get their hands dirty' HANG IN THERE FOLKS WE ARE COMING AND HELL IS WITH COMING WITH US........JUST MY OPINION.....Q
Unions are the reason that we can all enjoy a weekend off, holidays, 8 hour work day, overtime pay and our supervisors cannot fire us at will. I have been working on creating student activist for several years now and I am seeing the fruits of that labor. The students are advocating for themselves at all levels of government. We must all do our part and fight this oppression. I may sound like a broken record but I spent a month in India, the people were incredibly humble and hospitable but the wealth disparity is mind blowing. I will not sit back and watch this country become a third-world nation. We must all do our part to combat this siege on the working people.
The Shock Doctrine of disaster capitalism comes home: this is why every podunk police department has a SWAT team. The putsch in in process.
Michigan people where are you????????????????????????????????
DAMN