In organized labor parlance they sometimes refer to it euphemistically as a “job action.” Anybody who has been around the block knows, that is code for strike or work stoppage if you’re of the faint of heart.
No self-respecting card-carrying Republican would be caught dead or within a hundred miles of such stuff but lo and behold Friday there they were in a show of Solidarity Forever doing just that.
All 54 GOP members of the Michigan House stood outside their job site, the floor of the state house, refusing to go to their seats in an effort to pressure the Democrats, who were in their seats. The R’s demanded the D’s allow a vote on legislation allowing tip workers to keep the current bountiful tip system. Many of those employees fear if a new law takes effect next February, they will actually be taking a pay cut even though their minimum wage would go up.
Normally you might assume that pro-labor Democratic lawmakers would make a mad dash to the voting board to protect those tip workers and indeed they are some yes votes in the Democratic caucus including one who actually introduced the bill to reach that goal.
So you are asking yourself why don’t they just vote and be done with it?
Here’s the rub and the reason those job action Republicans could not force the Democrats to budge.
Labor leaders have publicly, and probably privately more forcibly, communicated to Democratic House Speaker Joe Tate that he should bury the legislation. Period. And so far he has obeyed.
“Speaker Tate has not demonstrated political courage to step up and do the right things for Michigan workers,” laments Rep. Matt Hall who leads the House GOP caucus and next year will be the new Speaker when the R’s take back house control.
“I don’t need any advice from him,” Speaker Tate fires back as the two leaders go head to head and toe to toe … from a distance and via a more safe route ... the press release.
The fact is the Republicans stuck to their guns and never went on the floor during the entire day. The Speaker and the GOP leader never sat down to iron out their differences which is the way things are suppose to go ... or at least it says so right there in the manual on how to resolve a disagreement.
Mr. Tate tells reporters he was ready to talk but the Republicans weren’t there. Mr. Hall was ready to talk but he sure as heck wasn’t going to go crawling to the speaker for help.
And so to apply another time honored labor term, it was a good ole fashioned stand-off or stalemate.
Mr. Hall pin points an under current in all this. He notes that the Speaker is running for Mayor of Motown.
“I would advise him this ... if he wants to be the next Mayor of Detroit he has a real opportunity right now to lead and what he should do is stop putting corporations and union practices above working families in Michigan.”
Some might say that’s easy for him to say since he doesn’t need labor backing to advance his own agenda.
So what’s next? While the two sides continue their rhetorical back and forth i.e. Mr. Tate argues Republicans are not doing their job and Mr. Hall countering Mr. Tate is afraid to do the right thing, all this will likely be resolved next year when House Republicans permit a vote and lots of Democrats will likely vote aye.
The question then becomes with the D’s still controlling the state senate and the governor’s office in 2025, what do they do?
This whole messy mess serves to under score the old adage ... there are two things in life you don’t want to see being made: Sausage and legislation.
