Teachers sue to join union without paying for political activities

[Omaha Steve]

Source: LA Times

By HOWARD BLUME

An advocacy group has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop teachers unions in California from using member dues for political purposes unless individual instructors provide their permission.

The effort, if successful, could weaken the influence of these unions by limiting their spending.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court by StudentsFirst, a Sacramento-based organization that has opposed candidates and measures backed by teachers unions nationwide, while also working to pass laws that curtail union power.

In the suit, four teachers, including two from the Los Angeles Unified School District, assert that union rules and state laws violate their 1st Amendment rights to free speech because they cannot belong to the union unless they allow a portion of their dues to be spent on political activity. The teachers claim they should be able to join without subsidizing viewpoints they may oppose.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lawsuit-union-dues-20150408-story.html

[RoccoR5955]

1. Spare me!

Unions spend so little of their budgets on political contributions, it's not funny!
They may get a couple of dollars a paycheck back.
Damn CONservatives pushing their lousy memes around should be in jail!

[christx30]

6. To be fair, if someone

made a donation in your name to Ted Cruz or Rick Perry's campaigns, you wouldn't be happy. Especially if you had to pay for it.

[RoccoR5955]

11. My union has made donations to candidates that I did not approve of.

Republicans, for really stupid reasons. Yes, I did complain, and explained my reasoning to the union leaders, but I would NEVER sue my union!

[olddad56]

13. It has been my experience that more often than not, the employees union..

that I belonged to supported the issues and candidates that I favored. Now, had I been an republican, I would have not been happy about the way the union was spending my money. And at the same time, I could never quite understand why a working person who belonged to a union, and had any common sense would vote for a republican to begin with. Why vote for someone who wants to break your union and export your job?

[christx30]

14. Which has the best chance of

helping the situation? Complaining about it, or suing?
That's why I think the political part the union should be separated from the day to day operations. And the political arm should be voluntary. That way if your Union is stupid, your money isn't going to support Ted Cruz.

[RoccoR5955]

17. The best chance of helping the situation

Is just what I did.
I complained about the situation, and then volunteered to be on the committee that makes these decisions.

[OnlinePoker]

10. I looked up donations by United Teachers Los Angeles on Open Secrets

They've made 3 donations for a total of $16,000 since 1996. What a waste of resources and court time.

https://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=united+teachers+los+angeles&cycle=All&sort=R&state=&zip=&employ=&cand=&submit=Submit+Query

[blackspade]

2. There seems to be no attack angle these....

Bottom feeders will leave untried.

More Union busting.

[valerief]

3. WTF do they think unions do? FFS!!!! nt

[KamaAina]

4. "StudentsFirst, a Sacramento-based organization"

The mayor of Sacramento is former NBA star Kevin Johnson. KJ's wife is... wait for it... Michelle Rhee. Her you know.

[olddad56]

15. I think that his organization is called Kevin Johnson First.

I have lived in Sacramento since 1972. Definitely the worst mayor this town as seen since I have been a resident. Has tried to get his Strong Mayor proposal ( more power for him) passed 6 times, and with all of his corporate backing, has still failed every time. I would favor a Smart Mayor proposal, but that would, by definition, rule him out.

[Major Nikon]

5. How rich

Michelle Rhee's organization gave $2 million in the last election cycle, almost all of it went to Republicans. Maybe she should sue herself for accepting donations which subsidize viewpoints her donors may oppose.

[A Simple Game]

7. If any of the four teachers need to go to arbitration the union should say

we can't find the money to pay for it, sorry.

The teachers want to take a short cut. They should do it the right way and join the union, run for office, and change the system from within if they think their idea is better. But that would take a lot more work, much easier to let an anti-teacher group do the work for you.

[WinkyDink]

8. I've always been amazed at Republican teachers. But then, those I worked with either had

or married money.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

9. One of the strongest Unions in the country.

Methinks this is nothing but an attempt by GOPers to take it down.

[RoccoR5955]

12. ABSOFREAKINLUTELY!!! n/t

[mike_c]

16. I believe union members can opt out of PAC donations....

They certainly can in my union (also California faculty). One need only right "No PAC" on the membership form, and they pay regular dues for representation but not the PAC donation (generally $10/month). Most of that money is used to lobby on behalf of issues that are important to our members, not for campaign contributions (although some is used to support statewide candidates we think will support labor). Most is used for advocacy, though. And no members are ostracized if they prefer to not contribute to PAC funds.