On Wednesday, in a decision that was a major blow to public sector and teachers’ unions, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a public sector employee who refused to join a public union and objected to paying a union fee that was automatically deducted from his paycheck every month under the union’s contract. As Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the decision, “States and public-sector unions may no longer extract agency fees from nonconsenting employees.”
The case involved Mark Janus, a child support worker in Illinois, who would not join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents state employees. He would not pay the $45 union fee (known as an “agency” or “fair share” fee) the union demanded every month from his paycheck.
The right of the union to collect the fee was based on the SCOTUS decision in Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Ed. That decision permitted a union to charge only for services from which nonunion members benefited, including negotiating and administering a collective bargaining agreement and handling grievance procedures, as marketplace.org noted.
But the Supreme Court reversed the Abood decision, ruling that Janus was “undisputedly injured in fact by Illinois’ agency-fee scheme and his injuries can be redressed by a favorable court decision … The State’s extraction of agency fees from nonconsenting public- sector employees violates the First Amendment. Abood erred in concluding otherwise, and stare decisis cannot support it. Abood is therefore overruled.”
Read more at the Daily Wire.
Public sector unions job #1 is to lobby against taxpayers that must ultimately fund overly generous and in many cases undeserved wages and pensions. This goes a long way to making the USA a “Right To Work” country!
Unions had a place in society a long time ago. But as the businesses grew and the workforce became larger too many of the union leaders saw a way to get rich. They even built themselves resorts where only union officials could take extended vacations, live in comfort, and just raise union dues to pay for their pleasure. It is way past time for them to be exposed. I speak from experience having been involved with unions for MANY years. The fair minded people who worked in the unions were weeded out by those who set their sights on the “good life”. This is an excellent decision by the court. And I do’t agree with much they do.
Finally , a decision that makes SENSE !!!
totally agree! Memberships to any organization should be purely voluntary and not coerced. It a big win for those who do not want to pay the union if they’re not a member.
I am a “Lib” (though I prefer the term progressive). I’m also a disabled veteran. While I support unions, I have known them to become abusive, and as bad as CEOs for taking money out of employees pockets. However, you’re leading, saying it was bad news for “Libs” was insulting. Is that “civil” enough?