It’s been a really tough week in Michigan, but yesterday was the worst day. The Republicans in our state legislature passed a package of four bills designed to strip away significant rights from unionized teachers. Two of them, H.B. 4626 and 4628, were particularly egregious. House Bill 4626 allows schools to fire teachers for almost any reason that is not […]

In case you missed it, last week the Republicans passed a tax reform bill that is a key component Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s budget plan that cuts business taxes by over 85% and does so on the backs of retired folks, kids and the working poor. The bill now heads to the Governor for his signature. Gov. Rick Snyder’s massive […]

Color me shocked! The Republicans are unhappy with the effort of Michigan Citizens United (webpage firericksnyder.org) to recall Republican Governor Rick Snyder. They are trying to characterize it as being entirely the effort of the Michigan Education Association, the teachers’ union in our state, based on the fact that an MEA fax number is erroneously listed in some of their […]

The fun never ceases in Michigan these days, does it? What now? This: Republicans in the state House have introduced legislation to fine striking teachers and even revoke their licenses. State Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, on Tuesday introduced legislation creating penalties for public schoolteachers and the Michigan Education Association for inciting or participating in strikes. House Bill 4466 would […]

THIS is positively astounding. In 2007, Judy Taylor, an artist based on Mount Desert, won a competition to create a mural for the lobby of the Department of Labor (MDOL). The work was to depict the “History of Labor in the State of Maine,” and was commissioned by the Maine Arts Commission. Taylor’s work is of 11 panels which you […]

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder laid out his plans to force encourage local municipalities and agencies to consolidate services to become more efficient. He’s going so far as to withhold state revenue-sharing funds to force their hand. Gov. Rick Snyder called Monday for local government employees to pay at least 20% of their health insurance premiums, and for less expensive retirement […]

If you want to get a clear picture of the differences in between the two main political parties, you need look no further than Michigan this week. The differences between the parties could not be clearer … or starker. This week Democrats called for a state constitutional amendment that would guarantee workers the right bargain collectively. Private AND public workers. […]

Last night on the Rachel Maddow Show where Rachel did a fine job outlining what’s going on in Michigan right now. Check it out: Basically, GOP members of Congress in Michigan are pushing through legislation that would allow the governor to declare a financial emergency in any given town, village, city or township and immediately put that municipality under the […]

Wisconsin State Senator Bob Jauch issued a press release today. Jauch is one of the 14 Democrats who have left the state to deny Governor Scott Walker a quorum in the Senate which would allow him to strip away the collective bargaining rights of teachers and other public employees. Walker recently tried to portray Jauch as wanting to return to […]

In 1981, Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), the national union representing air traffic controllers, went on strike. After talks collapsed, President Ronald Reagan permanently fired 11,000 of the union members. The President of the United States of America intervened in a labor dispute in a heavy-handed move that, in many ways, defined Reagan’s legacy and shaped the Republican Party […]

As everyone who has been paying attention to national news over the past two weeks knows, the political situation in Wisconsin right now is very tense. The Senate Democrats are in exile to prevent an anti-union bill that will strip collective bargaining rights from teachers and other public employees from coming to a vote. Tea Party Governor Scott Walker is […]