Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to sign right-to-work legislation as early as today that will prevent employees in the state from having to pay dues to a union. Appearing at an event outside Detroit Monday, President Obama assailed the legislation as a political ploy designed to "take away your right to bargain for better wages"; he referred to the legislation as "right to work for less money." 
 
 
 
 Obama takes on union fight in Michigan 
 
 Unions are outraged that right-to-work legislation has come to the state that is, to some degree, the symbolic heart of the labor movement; conservatives say that it will give more freedom to workers and create "more and better jobs in Michigan," in Snyder's words. 
 
 Right-to-work is complicated, starting with that carefully-crafted name - who, you might wonder, would oppose the right to work? Below, we explore the debate around right-to-work laws and what the current fight means for Michigan and the rest of the nation. 
 
 What is right-to-work? 
 
 It's the name that proponents have given to legislation that prevents agreements in which employees are required to pay union dues. 
 
 Even without a right-to-work law in place, American workers can't be forced to join a union. But many unions and companies have arrangements in which workers are required to pay union dues as a condition for employment, even if they don't join the union. Right-to-work laws make such agreements illegal. Employees can choose not to join a union, though they would still receive the benefits of union representation if their company is unionized. 
 
 Supporters of such laws - largely Republicans and business interests, including the Koch brothers - say workers should have the right not to pay union dues if they don't want to. (They also call the laws "freedom to work" legislation.) In addition, they say that right-to-work laws are good for business. Economist Thomas Holmes in 2000 found that growth in manufacturing in counties near the border in right-to-work states was 26 percentage points greater than non-right-to-work states - a finding trumpeted by right-to-work supporters. 
 
 
 
 Critics - largely Democrats and unions - say the laws are designed to weaken unions. If employees are not required to pay union dues, they point out, unions are likely to shrink and labor will have less leverage to engage in collective bargaining. That results, they say, in lower wages and worse working conditions. Opponents of the law also say it's no surprise that businesses are drawn to states with anti-union policies, as well as looser regulation and lower taxes, but that doesn't prove such policies are good for the economy - and workers shouldn't have to suffer in a race-to-the-bottom battle between states to appeal to businesses. 
 
 
 
 So what has happened in Michigan? 
 
 Last Thursday, Michigan's GOP-led legislature passed bills to make Michigan the 24th state with right-to-work laws on the books. The move came as something of a surprise, in part because Snyder, the governor, has long maintained that right-to-work was not on his agenda. The first-term governor, who has until now largely been viewed as a moderate, said Thursday he plans to sign the measure despite it being a "divisive issue." 
 
 
 
 Thousands of union workers protested the vote Thursday in Michigan's capital, Lansing, chanting "shame on you" at lawmakers; eight were arrested. The fight over right-to-work has particular resonance in Michigan, which is arguably the heart of the labor movement: "Sit down" strikes in Flint in the 1930s launched the United Auto Workers as a major power and led to the unionization of the U.S. auto industry. 
 
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 next ||||| Michigan State Police donned riot gear this afternoon to control an increasingly angry crowd at the state Capitol, with police estimating that about 12,500 people were gathered at the site. 
 
 Capt. Harold Love of the Michigan State Police confirmed police used pepper spray on at least one demonstrator. 
 
 About 1:30 p.m., a double line of about 30 state troopers marched from the back of the Capitol, across the lawn, and across the street to the Romney Building, where Gov. Rick Snyder has offices. They pushed a crowd of several hundred people away from the windows. 
 
 At least one man – reportedly in his 60s – fell, but was quickly helped up. 
 
 The crowd remained gathered at the building, chanting and singing, hoping that Synder, who was inside, would hear them. 
 
 Love, referring to the pepper spray incident, said police were positioned around the Capitol trying to keep people away from the building when one demonstrator grabbed a trooper and tried to pull her into the crowd. The trooper beside her reacted with pepper spray and the man let go of the trooper, Love said. He was not arrested. 
 
 Love said two other people were arrested for trying to force their way into the Romney Building. He couldn't say whether they had been charged. 
 
 As the first right-to-work bill was being passed inside the Capitol by the state House, protesters outside jeered at the news. They began to scream and shout in opposition, prompting a large contingent of troopers to form a line in front of mounted police and begin pushing the crowd back from the Capitol steps, drawing even louder complaints from protesters. 
 
 “Shame on You!” chants could be heard across the Capitol lawn. 
 
 More State Police troopers began arriving, with about 10 mounted officers and more than 40 other troopers standing two deep near the Capitol steps. Some of the officers on the edges of the crowd carried tear gas. 
 
 It was a crowd that at one point tore down a tent being occupied by Americans for Prosperity, a pro right-to-work group. Love said troopers went onto the lawn as the tent came down and a couple of people said “they just escaped in the nick of time without being trapped under the tent when it collapsed.” 
 
 As they tore down the tent, protesters yelled, "Tear it down, tear it down." 
 
 The dismantling came after a verbal skirmish between those who favor the legislation and those who don’t. 
 
 “Keep your hands off other people's stuff,” one of the pro right-to-work activists said as some in the crowd started pulling at the tent. 
 
 “Keep your hands off my money,” a protester yelled back. 
 
 Scott Hagerstrom, Michigan director for Americans for Prosperity, said later:“The passage of Right-to-Work is a win/win for Michigan. Not only is this legislation critical to Michigan’s economic recovery, it is a victory for workers who for too long, have been forced to join and financially support a labor union.” 
 
 By the time voting began, the crowd outside had swelled. 
 
 The protestors closest to the Capitol pounded drums and empty buckets while chanting in an effort to sway legislators inside. 
 
 At the same time, a large pro-union rally was being held in front of Lansing’s City Hall, as giant loudspeakers boomed the speakers' voices across the Capitol lawn. 
 
 Included among the speakers was UAW President Bob King. 
 
 “Unions built the middle class of America,” he said. “This is a national attack. These folks want to shift more and more of the wealth to a smaller and smaller group of people.” 
 
 Speaker after speaker, including firefighters, teachers and factory workers, vowed today’s protest was just the start. They said they would follow legislators all over the state to remind people of their votes. 
 
 One said they’d be at Gov. Rick Snyder’s daughter’s soccer game. 
 
 Melissa Waters of Ann Arbor was among those listening to the speakers. 
 
 “My dad and mom were union workers. Without the contracts they bargained for, we wouldn’t have had food on our table or clothes to wear,” she said. 
 
 The crowds began building early, with the bulk arriving around 8:30 a.m. 
 
 Led by three police officers on motorcycles, hundreds of union workers and activists marched from the Lansing Center to the Michigan Capitol building this morning, chanting "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Right-to-work has got to go!" along the way. 
 
 Crowds of people streamed into the Lansing Center before the march, including a bearded man in a Santa suit carrying a sign declaring the "GOP stole Christmas." 
 
 When the group arrived at the Capitol, they were greeted by a crowd of thousands who had already settled upon the Capitol lawn, shouting, singing and pumping their arms in what is expected to be the largest public protest the seat of state government has ever seen. Protesters, supporters and news media from across the U.S. gathered to speak on the controversial issue that has divided the state and sent ripples across the country. 
 
 Union members hoisted a large inflatable rat to the top of the Capitol steps, dubbing it the "Snyder rat." 
 
 Ray Litt was standing on the sidelines outside the Capitol this morning, holding a sign to show his feelings: "Gov. Snyder, Shame on You for Caving to the Right." 
 
 Litt, owner of Litt Electrics in Detroit and a longtime union member and supporter, said the legislation attempts to undo all "the wonderful, positive things unions have done for people." 
 
 He said he belonged to a union for many years, and when he opened his business he hired union workers. He and others talked about their disappointment that Michigan lawmakers are pushing to approve the legislation during the lame-duck session. 
 
 "I hope lawmakers will recognize the need to have a process that involves the people," Litt said. "When 2014 rolls around, this kind of action will be met with a real response." 
 
 That response? 
 
 He said lawmakers who approve the legislation will likely face a strong fight to keep their seats. And he predicted there will be recalls. 
 
 On the third floor of the Capitol, dozens of union members circled the rail of the rotunda, shouting, "This is our house" as they waited to get into the public gallery. 
 
 "I am a kindergarten teacher," said Renee Theisen of Warren, whose school district was closed today because so many teachers came to Lansing. "We just want our voices heard. This is important to us to belong to a union, and we want to keep it that way." 
 
 Brett Brown of Owosso, a member of UAW Local 602, said: "I hope that they hear that we're disappointed with the way this Legislature has handled this issue, especially the governor. I am hoping to affect change." 
 
 A huge contingent of police, armed with billy clubs, began surrounding the Capitol and streaming inside before dawn. Shortly before 8 a.m., they began allowing the people inside and they scrambled for the few precious spots in the gallery overlooking the House floor. 
 
 Police have limited the amount of public in the common areas of the Capitol to 2,200, including 160 in the Senate gallery and 195 in the House gallery. 
 
 "We're feeling good today," said Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk. "We have an enhanced police presence and we want to be highly visible so people feel safe and secure." 
 
 READ THE RIGHT-TO-WORK BILLS: 
 
 • Senate Bill 116 
 
 • House Bill 4003 
 
 • House Bill 4054 
 
 On the front Capitol steps, a tea party sign posted by the group American For Prosperity, advocating "workplace freedom," was posted above the crowd. 
 
 Conservative groups had reserved the use of the front steps. 
 
 But it was union representatives who stood on the steps this morning, rallying the growing crowd on the Capitol lawn. 
 
 "Stop the attacks on the middle class," read signs carried by demonstrators. 
 
 Carolyn Hietamaki was up at 2 a.m. to make the 7-hour drive from Marquette to Lansing. 
 
 "Look at all my brothers and sisters," she said, gesturing towards the thousands of people who filled the Capitol lawn. 
 
 "We hope he at least listens," she said, referring to Snyder. 
 
 Hietamaki said her union could be weakened by the right to work legislation because if people opt to leave the union "you don't have the same voice.” And that concerns her as a nurse because she said she uses her contract to ensure that patient loads aren't too high. 
 
 Hietamaki traveled to Wisconsin when similar legislation was making its way through the Legislature there. Today, there's a similar feeling of solidarity among workers. 
 
 "We're all in the same boat. We want to support our families." 
 
 All sides have called for peaceful demonstrations. 
 
 Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. 
 
 #RightToWork tweets
– It's a huge day for labor in Michigan. Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a pair of right-to-work bills that make it illegal to require the payment of union dues in order to work, the Detroit Free Press reports. The state's House of Representatives passed the bills earlier today. Some 12,500 people were in Lansing to protest—which may be the most demonstrators the state capitol has ever seen. "This is a national attack," United Auto Workers president Bob King declared, as the crowd beat drums and chanted. "Unions built the middle class of America." Michigan was a surprise setting for the battle, the New York Times notes. Just last month, labor leaders were calling for collective bargaining to be written into the state Constitution. It seems to have backfired: Now, the UAW's home state is the 24th to ban required union dues—and a bellwether for future conservative efforts across the US. The battle comes after Snyder shifted position; the governor had once called the issue too thorny too address. Elsewhere: President Obama had weighed in yesterday: "These so-called right-to-work laws, they don’t have to do with economics," he said. "They have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money." You can follow it all at the Free Press' live blog, or catch up on the background here.