The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge today to block a vote on a proposal that ensures the right of collective bargaining in one of the key presidential election states. The Court of Appeals ordered the Board of State Canvassers to put so called Proposal 2 or Prop 2 on the ballot this November 6th after the board deadlocked on the action.
Some Republicans were against the measure with Republican Governor Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette requesting the Court of Appeals “deny citizens the right to vote on the proposal,” in the words of the United Auto Workers union, which along with the AFL-CIO is strongly backing the proposal.
“Collective bargaining is a basic right for working families,” said Angelique Peterson a member of UAW Local 245 in Dearborn. “We will fight for it and win in November.”
A campaign this year collected nearly 700,000 signatures and the Secretary of State validated that more than enough valid signatures were submitted to put the proposal to change the state constitution on the ballot. There have been four constitutions in the state’s history and it has been amended 171 times.
In Michigan, public employees have the right to collectively bargain—a right extended to all public employees in the state when the Public Employment Relations Act was amended in 1965. The 1965 version of the Public Employment Relations Act repealed the “meet and confer” provision of the original law, enacted in 1937, replacing it with the right to collective bargaining in all matters concerning wages, hours, and other employment-related terms and conditions.
There is some risk for unions, if the proposition loses. Republicans on the Western side of the state would like to pass a “Right to Work” law similar to one that passed in Wisconsin. However, the Michigan Governor, Republican Rick Snyder, has maintained for years that such a law is too divisive, and that if one were passed, he would not sign it.
Nearly $25 million has been raised by groups representing what unions characterize as corporate special interests to fight Proposal 2. Among the biggest donors to the opposition were the DeVos family – whose scion Dick running as a Republican lost the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in Michigan history) and their Amway corporate interests, (more than $1.8 million) and Las Vegas billionaires Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, who gave $1 million each.
According to the AFL-CIO in “right to work for less” states:
- Average worker makes $1,540 less per year
- Median household income $6,437 less
- 28% more people lack health insurance
- Average poverty rate is 18% higher
- Rate of workplace death is 36% higher
UAW Statement 11 December 2012:
LANSING, Mich. — More than 17,000 Michigan residents from all walks of life
rallied today outside the State Capitol building as anti-worker legislators
heeded Gov. Rick Snyder’s call to divide Michigan by ramming through a so-called
“right-to-work” bill which promises to kill jobs, lower wages, crush workers’
rights and unravel the middle class.
Snyder, who seemingly misled the public by announcing he would sign the bill
Wednesday, waited until the thousands who had gathered outside the capital
returned home before calling a last-minute press conference and bill signing on
Tuesday night.
Earlier this year, Snyder called the legislation “divisive” and “not part of his
agenda.” Now, after his party lost seats in the Michigan House of
Representatives, Snyder rushed the bill through in just six days, with no public
hearing. The bill reverse decades of balanced labor law in Michigan, which has
yielded stable industrial relations, good middle-class jobs, and broadly shared
prosperity. Studies have shown that workers in so-called “right to work” states
earn an average of $1,500 less annually.
Continued citizen protests are expected throughout the state in coming days and
months. Workers are weighing political, legal and legislative options as well,
including putting the measure on the ballot in 2014 (the same year that Snyder
is up for re-election), a move similar to what Ohio voters did in 2011 when they
overturned an anti-worker law championed by their governor.
“It’s heartbreaking that Rick Snyder has chosen to tear Michigan apart and
betray the American Dream rather than working with us to create good jobs and
secure a brighter future for our state. We urge Governor Snyder to cut the
puppet strings of Dick Devos and the Koch brothers and end his attacks on
Michigan’s working middle class,” said Rev.Charles Williams III of the National
Action Network Michigan Chapter. “Because good jobs and so much else is at
stake, we will not rest until workers’ rights to a fair and decent wage are
restored. Everything is on the table during the next two years.”
We Are Michigan is a coalition of union and non-union workers, and faith,
community and civic leaders who are concerned about Michigan’s middle class.
Last week, extreme Tea Party legislators in Lansing rammed through partisan legislation that would destroy Michigan’s middle class by driving down wages, taking away the voice on the job for workers and making it easier to outsource jobs.
In a move eerily reminiscent of Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, lawmakers locked the doors to the State Capitol to stop thousands of working families from making their voice heard. They even had people pepper sprayed for trying to raise their concerns about these destructive measures.
Today thousands of Michiganders will be at the State Capitol for a day of action to stop the legislature from passing these bills.
Governor Rick Snyder needs to hear from you. Call him right now at the numbers below and tell him you oppose “right to work”:
• Governor Rick Snyder: 888-979-7646
Polls show this corporate-driven agenda to attack hardworking Michiganders who teach our children, protect our streets, keep us healthy and build our roads and vehicles is not what Michigan voters want.
But legislators, CEOs and right-wing millionaires are pushing to pass these measures before the end of the year to build their own power and make the growing gap between the rich and everyone else even bigger. And Governor Snyder says he may fall in line.
We need to put a stop to these divide and conquer tactics.
(The writer is from the AFL-CIO – editor)