In 2010, the Detroit Free Press endorsed Republican Rick Snyder in his race for Michigan governor. The paper’s editorial board said it believed Snyder’s promise that he would be a “new kind of governor…a pragmatist focused like a laser on initiatives that promised to raise standards of living for all Michiganders….In short, we trusted Snyder's judgment.” But in a scathing editorial denouncing Snyder’s “abrupt about face” in backing “right to work” for less legislation, the state’s largest newspaper wrote:

That trust has now been betrayed.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican legislators are doing their best to ram through “right to work” for less legislation that passed the state House and Senate on Thursday, even going so far as shutting the Capitol’s doors on workers seeking to make their voices heard.

But final action on this assault on workers’ rights won’t come until next week, and if you are in Michigan, you can join the drive to protect workers’ rights by volunteering at the Michigan State AFL-CIO phone bank in Lansing today through Monday, Dec. 10.

The Michigan State Senate just passed the “right to work” for less bill. The House passed a similar bill earlier today and Gov. Rick Snyder (R) says he will sign the legislation that rolls back workers’ rights.

Can't Stand It is a cross-post from Working America’s Dear David workplace advice column. David knows you deserve to be treated fairly on the job and he’s available to answer your questions, whether it is co-workers making off-handed comments that you should retire or you feel like your job's long hours are causing stress.

Question:

Are there any laws that protect workers who are required to stand all day? For example, I noticed that the pharmacists at a large chain drug store aren't allowed to sit at their computers and must stand all day. I asked some of the workers about it, and they said that they end up suffering leg pain as a result. Do OSHA standards apply here? Can anything be done about it? It seems as if this would be an issue that would affect a lot of other workers in the service industry, such as those who work in hair salons.

—Anthony, New York

T-Mobile, the telecom company that earlier this year closed seven call centers in the United States and shipped more than 3,300 jobs overseas, is running its remaining U.S. call center operations under what workers describe as a “climate of tyranny,” says Lothar Schroeder of German union ver.di, which represents workers at Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company. Schroeder spoke with Reuters. 

Menards, the third-largest home improvement chain in the United States, encourages its employees to take a so-called "economics" course online that contains staunchly anti-Obama content and, while it doesn't endorse Mitt Romney, it talks in positive terms of policies similar to those the Republican presidential candidate has proposed.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas, who last month struck down the Wisconsin law (Act 10) that eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights, refused a request on Monday by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration to stay the order while the case is on appeal.

Colas said the state "failed to show that they will suffer irreparable harm if the stay is not granted."

Take a minute today (Oct. 11) and say “Happy Birthday” to Eleanor Roosevelt. A member of the Newspaper Guild for more than a quarter of a century, Roosevelt strongly believed in workers, their unions and their involvement in the political process. 

Brigid O’Farrell, a member of the National Writers Union/UAW Local 1981, writes if Roosevelt were alive today, she would be out campaigning against California’s Prop. 32 to silence workers in the political arena, while giving the wealthy and corporations free reign. Read more at the Roosevelt Institute's Next New Deal blog.

Workers at Walmart are continuing their actions to win respect and bring change to Walmart , with a demonstration today outside Walmart’s Bentonville, Ark., headquarters and with strikes yesterday by workers at stores in Dallas; Seattle; Miami; Sacramento, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; and in the Chicago and Washington areas.

Colby Harris, who earns $8.90 an hour after three years working at a Walmart in Lancaster, Texas, told The New York Times:

We’re protesting because we want better working conditions and better wages and because we want them to stop retaliating against associates who exercise their right to talk about what’s going on in their stores.

For the first time in history, Wal-Mart workers have gone on strike. Workers participating in the one-day strike at several Southern California stores say they are striking to protest attempts by Wal-Mart to silence and retaliate against associates who speak out about working conditions, low-pay, lack of respect and other issues that plague workers at the notorious anti-union retail giant.

While the striking workers are not union members, they have joined together in OUR Wal-Mart, a worker-led organization that stands up to make change in its company.