11/1/12 - Next Tuesday, Michigan voters will be asked to amend the stateâs constitution in order to give Home Health Care workers limited rights to collective bargaining. If the constitutional amendment known as Proposal 4 passes, Home Health Care workers would be classified as public employees for the purpose of collective bargaining negotiation only. However, the participating users of home care services would still retain the power to hire or terminate the home care workers. Supporters of the amendment, which includes Service Employees International Union, claim that this measure is necessary to improve user experience by establishing a registry that would contain a list of workers who have passed background checks, creating worker training opportunities and by providing competitive wages. Claire Layman, a public policy specialist at Michigan State University points out that backers of this amendment support it because they feel the legislature has not done a good enough job of maintaining the quality of service necessary to help a vulnerable population. Opponents of the measure argue that the issue doesnât warrant amending the constitution, and that a legislative option is much more appropriate. Currently there are roughly 42,000 Home Care workers affected by this measure. For additional details on all of the ballot proposals, you can log onto the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, a non-political public affairs research organization. A link is posted below. (JM)
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