By Robert Parrish, Edwardsburg

In response to Mr. Michael Waldron’s letter to the editor published on 10/17/2012, http://leaderpub.com/2012/10/17/vote-no-on-prop-2/, I offer this rebuttal:

Proposition 2, would guarantee the right for Michigan workers, via the states constitution, to organize and participate in collective bargaining. Our nation was founded on the principal of democracy for all, and extending the right for workers to democratically choose to organize and collectively bargain with their employer complies well with the vision of our founding fathers. Capitalism does not nor should not trump that right. The right to voice our opinions, both as Americans and as employees, should not stop at the time clock.

Organized labor allows the individual workers to add their voice to the many. By doing so, those that work hard for their respective organizations have the opportunity to establish a legal contract between employer/employee that spells out such items as pay, hours of work, vacation, health insurance, retirement and other fringe benefits that strengthen middle class families. The advances gained through such negotiations also aids the non-unionized by creating accepted benchmarks for employers to attract and retain quality employees.

For Mr. Waldron to state that “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” is at best a misleading scare tactic. When one considers that the attorney general is part and parcel of Michigan’s right wing administration and state legislature that has declared war on the working middle class with numerous anti-worker bills, his opinion on this matter have no merit in determining what is best for those of us who struggle daily while hoping for a few scraps to fall from the table.

A table that is well spread for those at the top and those who have already fattened themselves off the sweat of the blue collar worker. Union or not, by voting yes on Proposition 2 you are adding balance against the failed hypothesis of trickle down economics and allowing workers to participate in the democratic process. A process that should be allowed to permeate across all lines of American life.

In closing, I offer this quote by President John F. Kennedy: “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”