We have filed another lawsuit, this time on behalf of Isaac Wolf, a California government employee who was told by his union that his First Amendment rights, restored by the Supreme Court, could only be exercised during an arbitrary window of time.
Not only was Isaac Wolf denied his right to leave University Professional & Technical Employees Communications Workers of America Local 9119, when he contacted his employer, the Regents of the University of California, about the issue, he was told because of a California law, they could not talk to their employees about union membership.
So California lawmakers think it is ok for government employers to deduct union dues from employees paychecks without their consent, but it is not ok for them to talk to employees about ending those deductions or more generally employees’ rights regarding union membership.
How is that right?
We don’t think it is. Fortunately, Isaac reached out to the Liberty Justice Center and California Policy Center and we were able to get involved on his behalf. Isaac resigned during the arbitrary window period dictated by the union. Now he’s pressing forward on this lawsuit to help other government employees whose First Amendment rights are still being denied.
I can tell you, it is a scary thing to stand up to the union. But until politicians start putting the rights of their citizens (and employees) above union special interests, lawsuits are the only way to ensure workers’ rights are being recognized.