The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether 35 thousand state civil service employees and the unions that represent them are covered by the right-to-work law.
The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta reports.
The court just put the case on its January docket.
The right-to-work law was adopted two years ago by the Legislature during a contentious “lame duck” session. It says a union cannot compel an employee to pay union dues or fees as a condition of holding a job. It’s not known how many workers have opted out of union membership since then.
But four state employee unions say the law does not trump the independence of Michigan’s Civil Service system because that is part of the Michigan Constitution. They say union membership should be part of collective bargaining. The state Court of Appeals disagreed, and – in a split decision -- held the law applies equally to all private and public sector employees.