Articles
Opening salvos in the teacher union dues case
The briefing in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association is underway. You'll recall that this Supreme Court case presents the issue of whether public employee unions can garnish the wages of non-union members to support the unions' collective bargaining and other political activities, without those workers' consent. Rebecca Friedrichs and her ...
Articles
Will the Supreme Court value individual rights over public employee unions?
One of the big cases of this Supreme Court term is Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which will decide if public employee unions can garnish non-union workers' wages to pay for activities ostensibly related to collective bargaining without the workers' affirmative consent. As we've noted in previous blog posts, everything a public emp ...
Articles
Supreme Court to review public employee unions’ ability to garnish wages
The California Teachers Association—one of the most politically powerful groups in the state—may have to start funding its political campaigns with the money of only those teachers who actually support its goals. Unlike other groups that seek donations from like-minded people who support the organizations' goals, the CTA has long benefited from a ...
Articles
Forced union fees should end
The government's days of forcing non-union members to pay union fees are likely numbered. A few weeks ago, I discussed two pending cases challenging such fees and I explained that such fees amount to compelled speech. This post explains why those fees are unconstitutional. When defending compelled speech, the government faces an uphill battle an ...
Articles
On the radio : compelled union dues case
Tune in to Air Talk with Larry Mantle (89.3 KPCC) in Southern California at 11:27 this morning, when I'll be discussing the United States Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Harris v. Quinn. The Court will decide if non-union personal care assistants who were deemed to be public employees by the State of Illinois, can be forced to pay dues to the ...
Articles
Major victory for workers as Supreme Court sides with PLF : unions cannot presume that workers consent to political subsidies
The Supreme Court today issued its decision in Knox v. SEIU, the union fees case in which PLF (joined by Cato, MSLF, and CCJ), filed this amicus brief. The case was about whether the union violated the law by requiring non-members to pay a special assessment to support a political campaign without first issuing the legal notice that informs non-mem ...