In The News

In a landmark decision for First Amendment rights, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that public employees cannot be compelled to pay union fees as a condition of employment. The 5-4 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME restores the First Amendment rights of freedom of association and free speech to more than five million government employees nationwide.

The ruling appears to require that employers of “fair share” fee payers must stop deducting fees immediately until they have affirmative consent from the employees to do so.  Center of the American Experiment estimates that 10,000 or more public employees who pay fair share fees will immediately see an increase in their paycheck with the end of forced union fees.

In its 5-4 ruling Wednesday in Janus vs. AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), the Supreme Court overturned decades-old precedent that allowed government unions to require public employees to pay union fees or risk being fired.

Now millions of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other government employees across the country gain the freedom to decide if paying a union is a worthwhile proposition. This is how it should have always been – no one should be forced to finance an organization he or she disagrees with

Anticipating a setback at the U.S. Supreme Court, several labor-friendly states passed Democratic-backed laws in recent months intended to protect a vital source of money for unions that was imperiled under a major ruling by the justices on Wednesday.

At least six states have passed laws, some making it harder for non-union workers to stop paying the fees and others making it easier for unions to sign up new members, and more are expected elsewhere.

Watch Janus v. AFSCME plaintiff Mark Janus and attorney Jacob Huebert talk about the Supreme Court ruling on public sector unions.

Teacher op-ed: What could you do with an extra $14,000? Buy a new car? Put a down payment on a home? Build your child’s college fund? I can think of many ways to spend this, but unfortunately, I had no choice but to hand it over to a union simply because I’m a public school teacher in Ohio, where people can be fired for not paying money to a union.

What will happen to teachers’ unions in a world without agency fees? One large, internal union poll found that without agency fees, 35 percent of its members would remain in the union, 15 percent would leave, and fully 50 percent were undecided. Teachers’ unions are expecting membership losses after Janus, but the future of one of the country’s most powerful interest groups depends on whether declines are closer to 15 or 65 percent.

Rebecca Friedrichs is a teacher and was the lead plaintiff challenging the California Teachers Association’s “agency shop” arrangement, She joins Insight to explain why she decided to file her lawsuit and challenged the CTA all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.