The Supreme Court Case That Could Decimate American Public Sector Unionism

[annabanana]

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/17595/friedrichs_v_california_teachers_association

Last week, an appeal was sent to the U.S. Supreme Court for a case that could prove to be the most damaging case to labor in decades.

Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association aims to overturn a nearly 40-year precedent which allows the use of “fair share” fees for public sector unions, wherein all union members must pay for the costs associated with collective bargaining and contract administration. Since all workers in unionized workplaces share the benefits of unionization—and since unions are legally compelled to represent all of those workers, which requires use of unions’ financial resources—unions say that workers who choose not to become members of unions must at least pay these fees in order to not become “free riders,” gaining benefits from union representation without paying for them.

From its beginnings, the case has been specially crafted for the Supreme Court, and if successful would affect tens of thousands of union contracts and would force millions of public employees into a right-to-work model.

Justice Alito has been inviting a case like Friedrichs for several years, and anti-union groups have been paying attention. In the 2012 Knox v. SEIU decision, which changed the way in which public sector unions assess optional fees (those not associated with collective bargaining, such as political and public relations activities and other matters not related to collective bargaining) from an opt-out to an opt-in procedure, Justice Alito, writing for the Court, said that “acceptance of the free-rider argument as a justification for compelling nonmembers to pay a portion of union dues represents something of an anomaly.”

Is this designed to be the last nail in the coffin of Public Unionism?

[rhett o rick]

1. k&r. Thanks for posting. nm

[annabanana]

2. The last remains shreds of the middle class in America

Of COURSE the public workforce is in their sites.

[rhett o rick]

3. I am disappointed this isn't getting more attention. nm

[annabanana]

4. I guess you and I can kick it back and forth

until someone else weighs in.

[rhett o rick]

5. Yeah, it might get more interest later in the day. nm

[rhett o rick]

6. Kick for the dinner crowd. nm

[woo me with science]

7. K&R

[0rganism]

8. decades of damage

in between the nasty conservative-dominated SCOTUS and the excesses of the GOP-led congress for the last 20 years, it will take 50+ years to repair the damage done to society if it can be repaired at all. the neo-cons have left their mark upon this country, no mistake.