By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s controversial right-to-work legislation, which gives people the right to take a job without joining a labor union, clearly deserves to survive.

But hopefully the state’s Republican lawmakers who pushed through the legislation at the last minute, with little advance public notice, will learn a lesson from a pending lawsuit:

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

If you’re going to do something out of the ordinary, because it’s the right thing to do, don’t sneak around and hide your intentions. Act boldly and proudly, and then let the world judge your actions as it

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William Collette on Wednesday rejected a motion by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the right-to-work legislation because it was allegedly approved in violation of the state’s open meetings act, according to the Lansing State Journal.

While commenting that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit – organized labor interests – face a “real uphill battle” in overturning the legislation, Collette acknowledged that there may be some merit to the suit and allowed it to proceed.

The way the Republicans acted when they hurriedly approved the right-to-work legislation Dec. 6, near the end of their lame duck session, makes us wonder if the judge may be correct.

The Republicans didn’t publicly declare their intention to debate the legislation in the full House until an hour before discussion started, according to the newspaper. Then the House passed the legislation after the chamber doors were closed, an action taken by state police for security purposes. Several thousand angry union protesters were out on the capitol lawn and in the building.

Collette also expressed concern about rumors that legislative Republicans ordered their staffers to take up limited seats in the House gallery nearly four hours before the debate began. The plaintiffs believe the staffers were trying to limit public access by hogging the seats.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

“I can’t believe people who were not ordered to be there would’ve been there four hours ahead,” Collette remarked during the hearing. “I haven’t even gone to a (Michigan State University) Spartan football game that early.”

If this lawsuit were to succeed, and a judge declared the legislation null-and-void, state lawmakers would presumably have to go through the approval process all over again, and Gov. Rick Snyder would have to sign the legislation again.

In that case the legislation may have another 90-day incubation period before it takes effect, giving labor unions around the state another opportunity to negotiate extended collective bargaining agreements that would keep their members trapped and paying dues for years.

Several unions around the state employed that strategy between December and March 28, when the original legislation took effect. The law only applies to workplaces with expired labor agreements.

Even if the lawsuit fails, the entire episode smells rather fishy to the general public. The Republicans acted as though they were pulling a fast one, which never makes for good public relations.

People should have an absolute right to secure work without joining an organization they don’t want to join. That’s the proud and simple message behind the right-to-work legislation. It should have been approved openly, with full public access and debate, so nothing appeared illegal or unseemly.