Thom Hartmann: How Michigan Voters Can Restore Unionization Rights
"You need to know this. Now that Governor Rick Snyder signed Right-to-Work-for-Less into law in Michigan, the focus shifts to how working people can overturn the legislation. Unfortunately, Republicans purposefully designed the law to make this task more difficult. By attaching Right-to-Work-for-less to a budget appropriations bill, Republicans made it harder for Michigan voters to repeal the law down the road. According to the Michigan Constitution, voter referendums can repeal laws, but they can't be repeal budget appropriations.
But, on the other hand, according to the Michigan Constitution, voters have "the power to propose laws and to enact and reject laws..." with a higher number of signatures to get onto the ballot. In other words, Michigan workers can restore the unionization rights they lost yesterday by gathering enough signatures for a ballot initiative. It would take roughly 260,000 signatures to put Right-to-Work-for-Less up for repeal by putting it to a citizen vote.
So now it's time to get to work. Let's hope this was a "Todd Akin" moment, and that Governor Snyder and Republicans, who drastically overreached with this latest attack on unions, will live to regret it. If working people stay organized, then this right-wing assault on working people could end in Michigan, and organized labor in America might finally rise again from the ashes of Reagan's thirty-year-long war on workers......"
http://truth-out.org/news/item/13306-on-the-news-with-thom-hartmann-michigan-can-restore-unionization-rights-by-gathering-enough-signatures-for-a-ballot-initiative-and-more
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