By Tim Martin
Associated Press
LANSING (AP) — After more than a year of what they consider continuous Republican-led policy attacks, Michigan unions are fighting back with a sweeping proposal that would enshrine collective bargaining rights in the state constitution and put them beyond the reach of state lawmakers.
The measure would serve as a pre-emptive strike against a possible right-to-work movement in Michigan, and potentially could undo some of what the state Legislature has done in the past 14 months related to unions and bargaining powers.
It also could serve as a get-out-the-vote rallying point for Democrats as they seek to re-elect President Barack Obama this fall. The proposed constitutional amendment may be one of the few weapons readily available for Michigan labor leaders and Democrats, currently all but powerless to stop bills they don’t like in the Republican-led Legislature. It follows union-fueled initiatives in Ohio to turn back a state law that curbed collective bargaining rights for public employees and an ongoing attempt in Wisconsin to recall the state’s Republican governor.
“Maybe in other states they’re doing this in different ways, but we thought this is the best solution for us here,” said John Armelagos, a registered nurse from Ann Arbor who serves as treasurer of the Protect Our Jobs coalition.
Union members and other supporters would need to collect at least 322,609 valid voter signatures by early July to put the proposed constitutional amendment before Michigan voters in November. The measure reads that “no existing or future law of the state ... shall abridge, impair or limit” the collective bargaining rights outlined in the proposal.
That could nullify possible Michigan efforts to pass a right-to-work law, which would prohibit labor contracts that require workers to pay union representation fees.
Michigan Republicans are divided on the issue, but debate has intensified since Indiana recently became the first Rust Belt state to adopt such a measure.
The proposed constitutional amendment also might threaten other measures that the Legislature already has passed.
A bill that would prohibit public schools from automatically deducting employee union dues from paychecks is headed to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, as is a measure that would ban graduate student research assistants at public universities from unionizing.
It’s possible that a law weakening the significance of teacher tenure could be challenged if voters were to approve the constitutional amendment.
Even parts of the state’s emergency manager law — which gives the state-appointed officials power to toss out union contracts in financially struggling cities and schools — might be in jeopardy if the union-backed plan is approved.
Republican have long controlled the Michigan Senate, and they regained the House and the governor’s office in the 2010 election. Republicans now have a 26-12 advantage over Democrats in the Senate, and a 63-47 cushion in the House.
Republicans say the union proposal is a power grab that could undermine efforts to control government spending and revitalize Michigan’s economy with employer-friendly reforms.
And by putting certain collective bargaining powers in the constitution, the measure would leave lawmakers unable to affect them without supermajorities or help from voters.
“It essentially says anything and everything that could be addressed in a contract can’t be touched by state law or legislative action,” said Ari Adler, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger.
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