Fire fighters like Chuck Peltier weren't too happy with the lame duck discussions to cut public servants retirement benefits by state lawmakers.
"To jerk that away from us without any representation... it's just wrong!" says Peltier.
And he was joined by hundreds of other fire fighters and police who have been expressing their opposition to the bills for days.
"We had a hint last night, we were here late, that things might get mended, or that they were hearing us," says James Tignanelli, the president of the Police Officers Association Michigan.
Speaker of the house Kevin Cotter says he heard the opposition loud and clear that there needs to be more time to discuss the bills. Supporters of the bills agree and say that they don't mind it being pushed back until next session.
"It's part of a discussion," claims Judy Allen of the Michigan Townships Association, "we welcome that discussion. We do look forawrd to having this brough back up in the early part of next year. But I think this was good to get some discussion and dialogue out there that--recognizing there is a problem and moving forward from there."
For now, police and firefighter unions are celebrating a victory and as part of the agreement to shelve the bills, they were told that they will have a spot at the table when the conversations start up again.
"It came with a commitment from us that we would meet, that we would continue the discussions and that we would at least be at the table. We'll listen and we'll bring ideas," explains Tignanelli.
But state senators like Curtis Hertel and Rick Jones say they hope it won't be brought up again, and if it is they don't expect the bills to get any votes in the state senate.
Speaker of the house Kevin Cotter says if lawmakers do nothing, numerous cities, townships, villages, and counties across the state will go bankrupt.
