November 28, 2018 — Connecticut public sector workers who want to resign from their union may find themselves in Hotel California — you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
That’s because AFSCME Council 4 has begun to deny members their right to resign union membership if they have signed in union card within the past two years.
The move could put one of Connecticut’s largest public sector unions at odds with the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME.
“Per the membership card you are outside of the window period to cease your membership at this time,” wrote AFSCME Director of Collective Bargaining Kevin Murphy to a union member who wished to resign.
According to the union card, which was signed in 2017, a member can only resign from the union when a contract expires between the union and the employer, or within 30 days of the member’s yearly anniversary.
Another AFSCME member was told she could not resign from the union because of her membership card which was signed in 2016.
Brian Kelsey, Senior Attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, the legal foundation which represented Mark Janus in Janus v. AFSCME, says such resignation windows are “unconstitutional” and says Liberty Justice Center is challenging these windows in court across the country.
