LANSING – They protested. They chanted. They nearly stormed the Romney Building, held by back by State Police troopers in full riot gear. But in the end, a coalition of unions, liberal activists and Democrats failed, as expected, to stop Michigan from becoming the 24th right-to-work state.

No amount of anger could prevent the inevitable Tuesday. Conservatives, after decades of only dreaming that Michigan could one day become one of the states that bans mandatory compensation to unions by employees working under a collective bargaining agreement, pulled off the historic legislative feat in just two session days. Only police officers and fire fighters are exempt.

Final House approval came at noon and 1:30 p.m., and by 4:46 p.m. both bills had been raced through enrollment and formally presented to Governor Rick Snyder, who signed them into law 35 minutes later. They will take effect 90 days after the Legislature’s sine die adjournment, so likely sometime between March 29 and March 31.

After almost two years of disdaining a right-to-work law as “not on my agenda,” Snyder, who publicly reversed course a week ago after word spread about a week earlier that he privately had relented, attributed his decision to two factors. He pointed to Indiana’s decision earlier this year to become a right-to-work state as having put Michigan at an economic disadvantage against its neighbor.

And he cited organized labor’s attempt to enshrine collective bargaining rights in the Constitution through Proposal 12-2, which also would have blocked a right-to-work law, as bringing the discussion forward.

“Unfortunately they moved forward, it became divisive and it was time to step up and take leadership with this issue, which I believe I’ve done,” Snyder said.

In fact, Snyder said if Proposal 12-2 had not gone on the ballot, “I don’t believe I would be standing here in this time frame” on the issue.

Both points are ones that anger Democrats. On October 23, at a news conference two weeks before Election Day, Snyder was asked whether voter rejection of Proposal 12-2 would amount to a mandate from voters to pursue a right-to-work law. Snyder said if voters reject Proposal 2, they have rejected the proposal, not offered their views on individual aspects of it.

“I don’t view it as just a green light to go ahead on (right-to-work),” he said then.

And a year ago, when Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, to whom Snyder looks as a model, announced he wanted to enact a right-to-work law in his state, the governor scoffed at the idea that Indiana’s actions should dictate Michigan’s. Asked at a news conference on December 19, 2011, whether Mr. Daniels’ conversion might prompt him to reconsider his decision not to push for a right-to-work law in Michigan, Mr. Snyder’s answer was simply, “No.”

Tuesday was a day that will long be remembered in Michigan government and politics.

The state that gave birth to the organized labor movement moved toward a major repudiation of that heritage with Republican majorities in the Legislature saying workers deserve the right to choose whether to have some of their wages go toward union membership or a fee to compensate the union for the benefits its provides.

With some 12,500 either inside the Capitol or on the lawn, it was the largest protest since several massive demonstrations in the 1980s.

Three protesters were arrested, all at the Romney Building, which houses the Executive Office, after they tried to force their way into the building.

Efforts to control the crowd by physical force were relatively limited, but police used pepper spray as the crowd swelled along the east face of the Capitol where protesters had swarmed to urge the House not to vote for the bills.

Enactment of SB 116 (PA 348) and HB 4003 (PA 349) also will inflict a severe blow on union coffers and as a result, the amount of funding they spend to elect Democrats to office. It will take time to see how many workers opt not to join their union, but it could be as many as 30 percent to 40 percent of workers. The Newspaper Guild, one of the few open shops in the state, has roughly that many workers at The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press who choose not to belong to the union.

It marked the end of Snyder’s image as a non-ideological Republican.

Democrats and unions will now turn from the fruitless task of trying to convince Republican lawmakers not to pass the legislation and Snyder not to sign it, and strategize how to respond. Recall campaigns and a ballot proposal to repeal the law are anticipated. And as Gongwer News Service reported Monday, defeating Snyder’s re-election bid in 2014, presuming he runs, will become a national Democratic priority.

And it portends perhaps a historically acrimonious legislative term in 2013-14. Democrats made it clear that Republicans’ decision to push right-to-work into law shatters any chance of cooperation in the 97th Legislature.

“The fight is not over,” Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said in a statement. “2014 starts today.”

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com