About a dozen members of the Michigan Nurses Association stand on the state Capitol steps in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, protesting right-to-work legislation. Organizers say the gathering was meant to symbolize the silencing of unions that nurses say will happen should the legislation become law.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
About a dozen members of the Michigan Nurses Association stand on the state Capitol steps in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, protesting right-to-work legislation. Organizers say the gathering was meant to symbolize the silencing of unions that nurses say will happen should the legislation become law.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Members of the Michigan House Democrats and supporters stand in the office of House Democratic Leader Rick Hammel, center, in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, to denounce the state's right-to-work legislation which was passed last week in Lansing. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Members of the Michigan State Police, background, look on as about a dozen members of the Michigan Nurses Association stand on the state Capitol steps in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, protesting right-to-work legislation. Organizers say the gathering was meant to symbolize the silencing of unions that nurses say will happen should the legislation become law.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
About a dozen members of the Michigan Nurses Association stand on the state Capitol steps in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, protesting right-to-work legislation. Organizers say the gathering was meant to symbolize the silencing of unions that nurses say will happen should the legislation become law.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Linda Erspamer a veteran nurse of more than 30 years at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, stands with other dozen members of the Michigan Nurses Association on the state Capitol steps in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, protesting right-to-work legislation. Organizers say the gathering was meant to symbolize the silencing of unions that nurses say will happen should the legislation become law.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
LANSING, Mich. (AP) ? Democrats in Michigan's Legislature and congressional delegation made a final push Monday to stall Republican-led right-to-work proposals that would limit the power of unions in the major Midwest industrial state.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and Michigan Democrats in the U.S. House met with Gov. Rick Snyder Monday morning in Detroit and urged him to veto the legislation, which could get final passage as early as Tuesday when the Legislature reconvenes. Levin said Snyder pledged to "seriously consider" the group's requests, including their demand for a statewide referendum on the issue.
The measures have sailed through the legislative process since Thursday, when the state House and Senate introduced and swiftly approved plans to prohibit requiring non-union employees to financially support unions at their workplace. Snyder has previously said he would sign the legislation, which still needs additional votes because the versions approved last week by the two chambers were slightly different.
Supporters say right to work would bring more jobs to Michigan and give workers freedom, but opponents say it's intended to weaken unions and drive down wages and benefits in the state.
Lansing authorities were bracing for an onslaught of protesters Tuesday. They increased police presence and planned road closings and parking restrictions around the Capitol.
President Barack Obama, who has stated his opposition to right-to-work legislation in Michigan and elsewhere, arrived at a suburban Detroit auto plant Monday afternoon. He was greeted by Snyder as well as Democratic members of Michigan's congressional delegation.
Meanwhile, Michigan House Democratic leaders gathered at the Capitol and called for more debate on the committee level before final passage. Democrats acknowledged there was little they could do to stop the fast-moving legislation in the waning days of the session but vowed to vote down other legislation as a form of protest, including one that helps to finance a downtown Detroit project featuring a new home for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.
"For them to try to rush (the Detroit project) through in lame-duck (session) is every bit as unacceptable as any other policy initiatives they are trying to rush through," said state Rep. Tim Greimel, an Auburn Hills Democrat who is the incoming minority leader. "We've got to take a stand and say, 'Look, we need to have a deliberative process.'"
Ari Adler, spokesman for Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger, issued statements dismissing the comments of both congressional and state Democratic leaders. He chided those in Washington for "trying to tell Republicans in Michigan to slow down and not do our job in Lansing while they fail to resolve the nation's fiscal cliff crisis or even approve a budget." Adler also said right-to-work policies have "been debated for decades, and we've been talking about it in the state House for the past two years."
"I find it laughable that House Democrats are suggesting the process is the problem and not the policy," he said. "We will have two suns rise over the state Capitol before House Democrats would consider supporting labor reforms that put the rights of Michigan workers ahead of the demands of powerful union bosses."
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