Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Rising of American workers that began with the Madison Revolution in Wisconsin in February 2011 is now showing signs of life in Arizona.

Protest rallies have been held in Tucson and Phoenix in recent weeks, and a Day of Action at the state capitol is planned for this Thursday by the Arizona AFL-CIO. (Below the fold).

Arizona lawmakers have been barraged with union members’ complaints about the package of anti-union bills sponsored by Sen. Rick Murphy, R-Peoria. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Public employee union bills stall in Arizona Senate – Arizona Capitol Times:

Several Republican-sponsored bills targeting government employee unions appear stalled in the Arizona Senate, a week after one such measure was approved.

The Senate was scheduled to consider a measure Thursday that would bar using tax dollars to pay for workers’ union activities, but the sponsor said he asked that its consideration be postponed.

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Mike Colletto, a lobbyist for a firefighters union, said lawmakers have been barraged with union members’ complaints about the bills and Thursday’s postponement was due simply to a lack of votes for the bill.

Two other Murphy bills that have yet to be scheduled for consideration by the full Senate also lack the necessary votes, Colletto said.

One of those would ban collective bargaining with public employee unions. The second would bar using government workers’ paychecks to collect union dues.

The Senate last week approved a fourth bill sponsored by another Republican senator that would bar paycheck withholding for unions and other entities without annual reauthorizations by the workers. The measure has been sent to the House.

As reported previously, the alleged "savings" from this bill were refuted by a JLBC report which says that it will actually cost state and local governments more money to administer annual renewals. Anti-Union dues deduction bill would cost local governments more money.