The Michigan AFL-CIO, the Building and Trades Council, the Teamsters, SEIU, United Farm Workers and the United Food and Commercial Workers say the law that affects private-sector employees is a violation of the U.S. Constitution because those unions are covered by federal law and governed by the National Labor Relations Board, not state law.

“In their haste to enact right-to-work, the Legislature overreached,” said Andrew Nickelhoff, general counsel for the Michigan AFL-CIO. “This lawsuit only deals with the act that affects private-sector employees, because they’re covered under federal labor law.”

The lawsuit names the Michigan Employment Relations Commission; Steve Arwood, the director of the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs; Attorney General Bill Schuette and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy as defendants. Worthy was added to represent all 83 county prosecutors in Michigan because they would be in a position to prosecute any criminal actions surrounding right-to-work activities in union shops.