Reports coming in from Twitter, via #saveMI and other hashtags, say that the Michigan state Capitol is locked down and protesters are being denied access. MLive confirms that several of the 3,000 protesters on hand have been arrested and that mace was used on several of them after they tried to enter the Senate chambers. Police say no one else is being allowed in the building because they fear that the structural integrity of the building was threatened. At least eight arrests were made, according to police, for "impeding the flow of pedestrian traffic." Working families and their allies are rallying at the Capitol in opposition to a new "right to work" for less proposal being put forth by Gov. Rick Snyder and legislative Republicans.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka condemned the actions of Gov. Rick Snyder and the radical Republicans in Michigan who announced today that "right to work" for less legislation would be pushed forward in the state's "lame-duck" session. Working families filled the Lansing Capitol building Thursday, outraged at the attempts to strip them of their voice in the workplace. Snyder is the latest in a line of extreme Republican governors, such as Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Scott of Florida, who are assaulting the rights of working families.

Shouts of "Who's house? Our house" echoed in Michigan's state Capitol rotunda last night as hundreds of union members and activists protested the "right to work" for less law that is being considered today in the state legislature after Gov. Rick Snyder announced it was "on the table."

The Michigan State AFL-CIO live-tweeted from the Capitol and announced it will return today to continue the protest and provide more updates. Follow the Michigan state federation on Twitter.

The "right to work" for less bill is now "on the table" in Michigan. 

If you're in Michigan, please call your state representative at 888-979-7280 to save the rights of Michigan’s workers. Tell your senator to vote NO on Michigan's “right to work” bill.

Chris Savage is a Michigan-based political writer and owner of Eclectablog. You also can follow him on Facebook and Twitter. 

For months and months, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has been playing Switzerland on the topic of "right to work" for less (RTWFL)—the Orwellian-named anti-labor union drive—saying, "It's not on my agenda" but never promising to veto RTWFL legislation. He literally used that exact phrase every single time he was asked about it right up until this past week.

This week, all of that changed. After a meeting with top Republican leaders from the state House and Senate, it's now "on the table."

Update: The bill is moving fast through the state legislature today. Call your Michigan House representative to say you oppose the "right to work" for less bill: 888-979-7280. 

Kathleen von Eitzen, a baker at Panera Bread's Battle Creek, Mich., location, just wants to be respected for her craft and the work she does every day.

I simply want to be respected and recognized as the artisan baker that Panera advertises that I am.

Von Eitzen is one of 18 bakers who recently voted to be represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 70. 

Read more from BCTGM: NLRB Orders Panera to Bargain with Michigan Bakers. 

Hundreds of Michiganders flooded the state Capitol building in Lansing on Thursday to tell their legislators to reject a "right to work" for less proposal currently before a legislative committee. Working families oppose the legislation that would make it easier for corporations to take advantage of their employees and weaken workers' ability to bargain with management.

Ann Arbor, Mich., resident Henry Greenspan explained in a recent letter to the editor in the Lansing State Journal that state legislators trying to enact a "right to work" for less law are not looking out for the best interests of working families. 

Do your part in getting friends and family out to vote for pro-working family candidates this Tuesday. Sign up for the Workers' Voice Friends and Neighbors (FAN) online social phone bank tool that is available in key battleground states. 

Start phone banking here: http://go.aflcio.org/Phone-Bank.

After a long series of coordinated attacks on the collective bargaining rights of working families in states like Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida and elsewhere, union members and their allies in Michigan are being proactive. They have placed a referendum on the ballot, known as Proposal 2, which would make the right to collective bargaining part of the state's constitution and would ban "right to work" for less laws.