A union watchdog says a proposed amendment in Michigan would not only make union bosses the most powerful people in the state; it would also have national repercussions.
F. Vincent Vernuccio of the Michigan-based Mackinac Center says the "Protect Our Jobs" amendment (POJA) sounds innocent, but it is not.
"What it would effectively do is give union bosses a veto over legislation -- past, present and future," he tells OneNewsNow. "Basically, anything dealing with wages and work rules for government employees could be overruled by collective bargaining agreements."
If it were to pass, the only way Michigan could become a right-to-work state would be to add another amendment to the state constitution. Meanwhile, Vernuccio says the POJA would have national repercussions.
"Both geographically and figuratively, Michigan is right between Ohio and Wisconsin. And essentially, whichever way Michigan goes will probably start to set the tone for the rest of the country," he suggests. "So, that's a big thing for the Michigan voters ... this November. The state can either be like Wisconsin and start creating jobs and stop bowing to special interests, or it can be like Ohio and Illinois, where the special interests essentially run the state."
So far, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) and the Senate majority leader have stated their opposition to the measure. Also, a court of appeals heard a challenge to the proposal earlier this week, namely that it is too broad and does not meet state requirements for a ballot proposal to be summed up in 100 words. The attorney general has also stated that POJA would repeal over 170 laws and more than a dozen parts of the Michigan Constitution.