On July 29, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld right-to-work for state employees, ruling that the Michigan Constitution prohibits agency fees for state workers. The Mackinac Center filed an amicus brief in the case, which the court eventually used to come to its decision.

Patrick Wright, vice president for legal affairs at the Mackinac Center, discussed the decision with multiple news outlets in the hours that followed.

"Voluntary unionism is the best idea," said Patrick Wright with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "That people should not be forced to pay fees in order to have a job, and so we think this was a right decision."

His interpretation of the ruling is that unions have been collecting dues illegally since 1963.

"We're gonna look into the question of whether or not there's a way to retrieve some of these fees that have been illegally collected over decades."

The full segment is available at the WILX 10 website. Wright also discussed the issue for a segment on Michael Cohen's Capital City Recap on 1320 WILS, available here, and with the Michigan Chronicle.

Additionally, the Washington Examiner quoted Wright on the decision:

"This was an attempt by the UAW to take away the rights of certain workers and force union payments from them, going directly against Michigan law," said Patrick Wright, vice president for legal affairs at the Mackinac Center. "The majority correctly noted that state employees unions have illegally been receiving agency fees from state employees for decades."

The full article is available at the Washington Examiner's website.

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