Teamster’s President James Hoffa believes the passage of right-to-work legislation in Michigan is on par with the worst conflicts in our nation’s history. In the past 24 hours he has compared it to Pearl Harbor and, in a separate interview, suggested it would bring about a new civil war.
The Teamster’s President gave an interview to Thom Hartmann Tuesday after the right-to-work bill was passed. During the discussion Hoffa cast Gov. Snyder in the role of the Imperial Japanese (video below):
I think this has been a real Pearl Harbor because, you know, when Rick Snyder ran he always said ‘Oh, it’s not on my agenda, not on my agenda’…people would ask him. And then all of a sudden in the lame duck session right after Romney got beat, they do this. You have to put two and two together and say this is part of a bigger picture.
In a separate appearance on CNN’s Newsroom the excitable Hoffa went back to another conflict to make his point “This is just the first round of a battle that’s going to divide thisstate. We’re going to have a civil war.”
Despite the bluster, the union presence at the Lansing, MI Capitol was much smaller than similar protests which took place in Wisconsin last year. Estimates suggest that 12,500 to 18,000 showed up Tuesday in Lansing. Back in March 2011, the city of Madison estimated 85,000-100,000 people rallied to protest changes to collective bargaining in the state.
The two bills at the center of the debate were passed last week and yesterday by the Michigan House and Senate. With the addition of Governor Snyder’s signature, Michigan becomes the 24th right-to-work state, meaning employees do not have to join a union if one is in place where they take a job.
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