Michigan Supreme Court rules state employees don’t have to pay union dues

The law raised the retirement age and required public employees to contribute more toward their pensions and health benefits.

The commissions rules must yield to the constitution when there is no authority for it to impose such fees, ” Chief Justice Robert Young Jr. wrote for the majority.

“The unions told the state Supreme Court that right-to-work doesn’t apply to public employees”.

The reason this could have national implications is that Michigan was trying to use the same dodge that many other union controlled states have employed in the face of rising Right to Work movements. Its very small pay increases or no pay increases over the last 10, 15 years, ” she said. Adopting an argument provided by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, the majority held that agency fees were akin to a tax on public employees and that the Michigan Civil Service Commission lacked the power to tax.

Dissenting Justice Richard Bernstein said pensions are a condition of employment and the commission can not waive its constitutional authority.

Terri Reid, president of the Michigan Freedom Fund, which backed the law, issued a news release that said “today is a great day for workers in Michigan”, and “individuals’ freedoms shouldn’t end when they take a job working on behalf of taxpayers”. But they are still significant to retired workers, said Hetty Rosenstein, state director of the Communications Workers of America, whose members receive, on average, $25,000 a year.

Justices noted in the opinion that the commission “has never formally opposed or attempted to repudiate the application” of SERA or the 2011 amendment to state-classified civil service employees.

“The court recognized that the State Constitution has long prohibited state employees from having to pay agency fees”, Wright said. He added: “I respect that the freedom-to-work laws inspired passionate debate on both sides, and appreciate that the state’s highest court has now brought this issue to a close”.

“The unions told the state Supreme Court that the legislature did not have the authority to change the employee retirement system”. State employee unions and the State Office of the Employer initiated their primary negotiations on a new shared bargaining arrangements last week.

While taking place at the state level, this one could be very big for the Right to Work movement.