The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that a proposal to preserve collective bargaining rights for Michigan workers be placed on the November ballot. The four-member Board of State Canvassers—two Republicans and two Democrats—had deadlocked on allowing the issue on the ballot.

Nearly 700,000 Michigan voters signed petitions for the collective bargaining measure as part of the Protect Our Jobs campaign that began in March after a continuous Republican assault on the rights of working families by Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican lawmakers. Snyder last week filed a brief with the Michigan Court of Appeals opposing a vote on the proposal.

Karen Kuciel, a Warren Consolidated Schools teacher, said today’s decision is:

a major victory for working people. Collective bargaining will be on the ballot for a vote. Now we must overcome the corporate special interests at the ballot box to ensure we have a voice for fair wages, benefits and safe working conditions for all of us.

Michigan State AFL-CIO President Karla Swift says, "Corporate special interests pushed Lansing politicians to pressure the court leading up to the decision. But the court confirmed there is no legal reason to deny people the opportunity to vote on the proposal."

Working families now must be ready to counteract the corporate special interest money that is about to flood into our state to confuse the issue and defeat working families at the ballot box.