Jay Potter
Recording Secretary
On September 28, the US Supreme Court announced that it will hear a case, called Janus v. AFSCME, an anti-union force pushed in an attempt to have fair-share fees ruled unconstitutional for public-sector employees.
Since 1977, the Supreme Court decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, unions have been able to charge fair share fees (“agency fees”) to non-union members for the cost of the union negotiating and enforcing a collective bargaining agreement covering those individuals. Fair share fees have been deemed constitutional for the last forty years, the courts have repeatedly found that the fair share fee system adequately balances the interests of the employees and the state in an efficient labor relations system and the First Amendment interests of union members and nonmembers.
Last year, the Supreme Court took up the Friedrichs v. Cal. Teachers Assn. The death of Justice Scalia left the Court equally divided, with four justices in favor of finding fair share fee constitutional and four opposed. Unfortunately, recently appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch may side with the four conservative justices, and thus in revisiting the issue the Supreme Court could find fair share fee unconstitutional, at least in the public sector. This will essentially mean public sector unions will be in a National Right to Work situation. Any decision will probably be issued by the time the Supreme Court term ends in late June 2018. If a decision is issued holding fair share fees unconstitutional, it would likely be effective the day it is issued.
This legal threat to union rights is part of a non-stop effort to weaken unions as effective representatives for working people. This may be viewed by some as legislating from the bench, as this has been established law for the last forty years. As with Right to Work, the anti-union objective is to reduce union funding. Unions with fewer resources won’t be as effective against companies that want to keep pay & benefits low.
Jay Potter
Recording Secretary, TWU Local 514