The campaign to guarantee collective bargaining rights in the state constitution says it has more than twice the number of signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. The union-backed campaign handed in its petitions Wednesday to state elections officials.
Elections officials say the Protect Our Jobs campaign showed up with 136 boxes, 110,000 petition sheets, and an estimated 684,000 signatures. It takes less than half that – about 323,000 names of registered voters – to qualify for the November ballot.
The Protect Our Jobs amendment would preempt any efforts to make Michigan a right-to-work state. It would also reverse restrictions on collective bargaining and union fundraising that have been enacted by legislative Republicans over the past 18 months.
At the same time, a coalition of business groups announced a campaign committee to oppose the Protect Our Jobs amendment as well as a dozen or more questions that could also appear on the November ballot.