MSU Administrative Professional Association

Proposal 2 to Protect Collective Bargaining released a new 30-second ad that shows how collective bargaining helps working families get their jobs done the Michigan way – through hard work.

Collective bargaining gives working families a voice to negotiate for fair wages, benefits and safer working conditions that are good for us all.

Collective bargaining protects the basic right of working families to have a voice in their workplace. Proposal 2 doesn’t give workers any rights they do not already possess.

Opponents of collective bargaining are scared they may lose the ability to arbitrarily cut jobs, ship them overseas or reduce wages.

Jobs covered by collective bargaining decreased by about 10 percent from 1989 to 2010, according to the Economic Policy Institute. During that same time span, the average annual pay adjusted for inflation dropped by about $6,000 even as productivity increased by nearly 30 percent, according to the EPI.

States with higher levels of unionization have lower poverty levels, higher average incomes, lower workplace deaths, higher educational outcomes, and higher pension and health insurance coverage, according to Policy Matters Ohio, a nonpartisan think tank.

Corporate bosses hide behind shadowy front groups to purchase or reserve more than $22 million in ads riddled with lies, misleading information and fear mongering. A loophole in the Michigan Campaign Finance law lets the groups off the hook from revealing who is bankrolling them.

Corporate special interests have vowed to do whatever it takes to eliminate the right of working families to have a voice in the workplace. These special interests pressure Lansing politicians to pass laws that weaken worker rights and circumvent previously negotiated contracts.

Collective bargaining gives firefighters and police officers a voice to negotiate for life-saving equipment, protects nurses who speak up about a patient’s care and gives teachers smaller class sizes so they can better educate our children. It is collective bargaining that has afforded us at MSU our current health care coverage, wages, and retirement plan.

Vote Yes on Proposal 2 to protect collective bargaining. For more information, visit www.protectworkingfamilies.com.