As part of a National Day of Protest organized by the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, thousands of Michigan workers are protesting at the state's capitol. A State Senate committee voted to approve a bill that will require public employees to pay 20% of their health insurance premiums. Protesters say that they feel that the legislators are attacking them, and that by restricting their rights they are not allowing communities to decide what is best for them. Many of the workers say that they have not attended protests in the past, but felt that they needed to defend their jobs. The event is the latest is a string of rallies at the capital.
See "Thousands of union workers swarm Capitol in protest", Chris Christoff, Detroit Free Press, April 12, 2011