What is Proposal 2?

Proposal 2 would enshrine collective bargaining rights into Article I, Section 28 and Article XI, Section 5 of the Michigan Constitution. This divisive union attack on government efficiency and fiscal responsibility would permanently establish the right of all public and private employees to collectively bargain and impair the enactment and enforcement of new and existing state labor and employment laws contrary to the proposal, including right-to-work legislation.

The 432-word constitutional amendment would effectively shield unionized workers from the numerous reform measures Governor Rick Snyder and the Legislature adopted this legislative session - or may consider in the future. Although proponents of the constitutional amendment have refused to enumerate what current or future laws the amendment would affect, it is clear the language would significantly hamstring, if not nullify, legislative efforts to improve government efficiency and control spending at the state and local level.

Recent and pending laws and reform proposals that could be pre-empted by the constitutional amendment include:

• future right-to-work legislation;
• efforts to repeal the prevailing wage law;
• laws prohibiting union-only project labor agreements (PLAs);
• government union contracts could repeal pension reforms that have already helped Michigan taxpayers avoid as much as $4.3 billion in government pension underfunding since 1996;
• government union contracts could gut the "80/20 law," which protects taxpayers from subsidizing no more than 80 percent of government-employee health care premiums. Repealing this law alone could cost the state more than $500 million annually;
• emergency manager powers;
• the prohibition of payroll deductions for union dues for public school employees;
• local government consolidations relating to collective bargaining;
• merit reforms made to the Teacher Tenure Act;
• laws prohibiting the unionization of graduate student research assistants;
• paycheck protection laws;
• it would repeal the laws recently passed that make it easier for school districts to get bad teachers out of the classroom;
• it would repeal the law that says school employees can be docked a day's pay when they illegally strike;
• it would undo the reforms that require government employees to contribute more to their health care and retirement benefits;
• it would repeal the law that prohibits those with criminal records from serving as officers for unions in Michigan's casinos;
• laws requiring a uniform first day of school across Michigan;
• laws limiting pickets at a private residence;
• strike down laws requiring criminal background checks for employees in day care centers, nursing homes or hospitals if those employees are unionized;
• it would make it impossible for cities and counties in a financial crisis to ever balance their books;
• result in judges ordering tax increases to pay for the unions' contract demands;
• government union contracts could overrule the state's Freedom of Information Act and open-meetings law - including the laws making those government union contracts public;
• would immediately repeal binding arbitration laws, which mandate that public safety officers, who are forbidden to strike, rely on arbitrators to determine the final contracts when negotiations are at an impasse;
• public spending reforms like privatization of noninstructional services could vanish;
• and much, much more.

How Do I Inform My Employees About the Dangers of Proposal 2?

In order to defeat the union boss ballot proposal, Proposal 2, it is crucial for you to inform your employees, colleagues, friends, and family about the harmful affects that this proposal will have on Michigan workers and businesses. Proposal 2 is not written to sound threatening to the average voter (see below) but, if passed, the second bullet point alone will repeal more than 170 state laws and overturn 17 sections of Michigan's Constitution. Stand up against this brazen special interest attempt to deceive voters and hijack Michigan's Constitution and inform your employees today!

ABC has created a special paycheck stuffer for you to hand out to your employees encouraging them to vote 'NO' on Proposal 2.

Click here to print the paycheck stuffer.

Proposal 2 as it will appear on the November ballot:

PROPOSAL 12-2

A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION

REGARDING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

This proposal would:

• Grant public and private employees the constitutional right to organize and bargain collectively through labor unions.
• Invalidate existing or future state or local laws that limit the ability to join unions and bargain collectively, and to negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements, including employees' financial support of their labor unions. Laws may be enacted to prohibit public employees from striking.  
• Override state laws that regulate hours and conditions of employment to the extent that those laws conflict with collective bargaining agreements.  
• Define "employer" as a person or entity employing one or more employees.

Should this proposal be approved?