Michigan Gov. Signs Right-to-Work Bills

Posted at: 12/11/2012 8:03 AM
Updated at: 12/11/2012 5:05 PM
By: JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed right-to-work legislation, dealing a devastating and once-unthinkable defeat to organized labor in a state that has been a cradle of the movement for generations.

He put his signatures on the bills Tuesday, hours after the state House passed the measures as the chants of thousands of angry pro-union protesters filled the Capitol.

Snyder says a failed ballot proposal to enshrine collective bargaining rights in the constitution triggered the discussion that led to the passage and signing of right-to-work.

During a news conference, he called the protests "an exercise in democracy."

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