Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville said yesterday on the news talk program “Off the Record” that he won’t pursue so-called “Right to Work” laws for Michigan EXCEPT FOR TEACHERS. These laws, often called “Right-to-Work-for-LESS”, remove the requirement for employees at a union shop to join the union. RTWFL laws are used to reduce the power held by unions and allow […]

Early this week, I reported that the Michigan Education Association (MEA), the union for Michigan teachers, was getting involved with various recall efforts around the state. After hearing from Chris Bowers at Daily Kos, I pulled my punch a bit with this update: UPDATE: As Chris Bowers from Daily Kos indicates, the MEA has not officially endorsed the recall of […]

UPDATE: As Chris Bowers from Daily Kos indicates, the MEA has not officially endorsed the recall of Rick Snyder. As you can see below, their language seems to indicate that they are but it is vague enough that a true endorsement isn’t implicit. I’ll update with more information as I get it. Well, this should make things interesting. As first […]

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 […]

Oh, great. Rep. Bill Rogers, the guy who sponsored two bills to diminish, threaten and punish unionized teachers in Michigan is now heading up a group reform Michigan’s entire education system. State Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, is spearheading an education-reform work group he said will be “proactive instead of reactive” in pursuing changes to education funding and how students […]

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 […]

Back in March, I wrote about Michigan Republicans’ efforts to further penalize teachers who go on strike in our state. From the article I linked (no longer available): 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 fine the […]

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 […]

From the Jackson County Educational Association (JCEA): Governor Rick Snyder is scheduled to be in Jackson on Monday, March 21. He will be the keynote speaker at the Jackson County Republican dinner, which will be held at the Commonwealth Commerce Center (209 E. Washington Ave., corner of Washington Ave. and Francis St.) beginning at 6:00 pm. We are inviting public […]