On Nov. 6, the voters of Michigan will vote on six constitutional amendments. One of them is Proposal 2.

“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.”

On the surface, this proposal sounds reasonable.  Collective bargaining is ingrained in our society. But Michigan’s Attorney General predicts that the amendment would repeal at least 18 provisions in the Michigan constitution, adversely impact 13 Michigan statutes and repeal at least 170 laws. This innocent-sounding proposal would introduce a huge uncertainty while a multitude of court challenges to existing laws and statutes works its way through Michigan courts.

My interest in this proposal is primarily its effect on our schools. Please note that nothing in the proposal even mentions our children. Its purpose is to change the entire legal structure in Michigan so that public unions will once again gain the upper hand with our representatives at state, city and school levels during contract negotiations. It seeks to reverse reforms painfully gained in the last several years.

Please vote no on this radical proposal.

Michael L. Waldron

Niles