Public Media from Michigan State University

Snyder Asks MI Supreme Court To Rule On ‘Right-To-Work’

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Governor Rick Snyder has asked the state Supreme Court to bypass lower courts and rule soon on whether Michigan’s new right-to-work law is legal.

We have more from The Michigan Public Radio Network's Rick Pluta.

No challenges have been filed yet, but union leaders have suggested the law and how it was enacted could violate the Michigan and U-S constitutions.

Governor Snyder says he doesn’t want to wait for lower courts to act. For one thing, state employee contract bargaining begins this summer. Among the prospective challenges the governor wants the court to address – whether the right-to-work law supersedes the independence of the Michigan Civil Service Commission, and whether it’s legal to exempt police and firefighter unions.

The state Supreme Court has a Republican majority. Governor Snyder is also expected to name someone soon to fill a vacancy on the court.

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Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.