SCOTUS Ruling Could Spell Disaster for Public Employee Unions
The Supreme Court said Tuesday that it would hear a major challenge to California’s public unions and decide whether they may charge fees to non-members to support collective bargaining.
At issue is a 1970s-era court precedent that allows these unions in California and 20 other states to collect “fair share” fees from all employees.
The court’s conservatives, led by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., have signaled that they see these forced fees as unconstitutional because they require some employees to support a cause they oppose.
In the fall, the justices will hear a direct challenge to the fees brought on behalf of Rebecca Friedrichs, a public school teacher in Orange County who objects to supporting the California Teachers Assn.
The lawsuit said full dues for teachers who join the union are about $1,000 a year, but non-members still have to pay about $650 on average for their share of the cost of collective bargaining, which has been deemed to benefit all workers, including non-members.
“The Supreme Court is revisiting decisions that have made it possible for people to stick together for a voice at work and in their communities — decisions that have stood for more than 35 years,” according to the statement, which was endorsed by Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Assn. and the leaders of AFSCME and SEIU, two giant unions representing public employees.