Can Last-Minute Secret Meetings Save Union Rights in Michigan After All?

With less than 24 hours to go, President Obama on the way, and last week's protests at the state capitol proving ineffective, Democrats are doing the only thing they can right now: union-shame the other side into a turnaround under the national spotlight.

With less than 24 hours to go, President Obama on the way, and last week's protests at the state capitol proving less effective than those in Wisconsin last year, Michigan still looks like it will become the country's 24th right-to-work state. So state Democrats, even in the face of a solidly Republican legislature, are doing the only thing they can right now: union-shame the other side into a turnaround under the national spotlight. "Governor Rick Snyder has said he will sign the law on Tuesday, and it can’t be overturned by referendum (as in Ohio) because of a procedural tactic Republicans used to exempt the law from challenge," writes The Washington Post's Greg Sargent. But wait! "I’m told that virtually the entire Democratic Congressional delegation in Michigan is set to privately meet with Snyder today in an effort to persuade him to reconsider the initiative and to find a way out of the impasse," Sargent adds.

Secret private meetings? That's juicy news. But don't think that Democrats didn't want to leak it — getting as much national pressure on Snyder is a last-ditch effort if there ever was one, and telling The Washington Post about the secret meeting is probably more effective than what they'll actually say behind those closed doors. And in that same vein, that's the reason why there are rumors that Obama's fiscal-cliff speech in Michigan today will have a "right-to-work" component to it.

So, will the public stumping work? If the results of Gov. Scott Walker's failed recall is any indication, then you have a no. If the results of Snyder's past success with passing legislation like his Emergency Financial Bill, which allowed him to take over and appoint administration-selected managers who have the power to dissolve union contracts in towns like Benton Harbor, is any indication, then you might also have a no. And that's not good for union advocates.  "If union adversaries can pass a right-to-work law in the home of the once-powerful United Auto Workers, they can pretty much do it anywhere," writes The American Prospect's Rich Yeselson.