Arizona's anti-AEA ballot measure could ban police, firefighter union bargaining, critics warn

Buried in a proposed constitutional amendment intended to destroy the state’s largest teachers union is language that advocates fear could ban all public sector labor unions in Arizona, including those that represent police officers and firefighters, from negotiating employment terms.

And if voters in November add the language to the Arizona Constitution, they say it could invalidate all existing labor agreements between public employees and the government, not just those for teachers and other school employees.

“It’s either disingenuous or deceptive,” said Joe Clure, the executive director of the Arizona Police Association, which opposed the measure. “We can’t take the chance that it might include all of labor, including public safety.”

The legislation targeting the Arizona Education Association was first introduced in February, as an amendment in the House of Representatives Education Committee, to punish the state’s largest teachers union because it was mounting a ballot initiative campaign to overhaul the state’s universal school voucher program.



https://azmirror.com/2026/06/16/arizonas-anti-aea-ballot-measure-could-ban-police-firefighter-union-bargaining-critics-warn/