In their giant rush to ramrod Right to Work through the Legislature and make sure that the public had no say on it, its backers forgot that we're not just a representative democracy but also a constitutional one.
Ari Adler, spokesman for House
Speaker Jase Bolger, said: "It was our intention that the Freedom-to-Work laws would cover all employees, private and public, other than those we expressly left out of the law.
"That isthe Legislature'sintended public policy and we believe everyoneshould follow this policy."
Lansing attorney Richard McLellan, an expert on the Michigan Constitution, said language included in the legislation saying the law applies to state employees will have "no impact." Snyder and GOP lawmakers may have been "blindsided" by the Civil Service issue, he said.
"(The Legislature) cannot touch state Civil Service and they can't touch the Michigan State Police," McLellan said. Georgi-Ann Bargamian, an attorney and administrative assistant to UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada, confirmed Wednesday the law won't affect Michigan's unionized state workers. UAW Local 6000 represents 17,000 state employees.
Is there no one left in Lansing that understands what a constitution is or how it is ordered into how government conducts its business?
