“Agency shop” laws, which require public employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment, violate well-settled principles of freedom of speech and association.”
Plaintiffs in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association
It is clear that the Supreme Court is likely to overturn its 1977 ruling in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education which affirmed that a union shop, legal in the private sector, is also legal in the public sector. They found non-members may be assessed dues for “collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment purposes” while insisting that objectors to union membership or policies may not have their dues used for other ideological or political purposes.
However, in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association argued this past Monday, a majority of the justices focused on the merits of the primary issue before the court: whether compelled union dues violate the first amendment. Other justices, however, spent a great deal of time discussing ways to avoid the merits of the primary issue, suggesting that even if Rebecca Friedrichs has the stronger legal argument, she should still lose her case because of the legal doctrine of stare decisis. That the Justices spent so much effort on this line of reasoning indicates they may have already conceded that Rebecca Friedrichs has the stronger arguments on the merits.
The reality is that all union activities are inherently political and thus will always run amok of the views of some of its members. Left unsaid in the hearing before the court, is the requirement that union members contribute to the often eye-popping salaries of their union executives, typically many multiples of their annual wages. If a union cannot persuade people to join, coercion is not an acceptable alternative!
What is a stake is whether a public [or other] employee can be compelled to join any organization as a condition of employment. In a free society, every individual deserves the right of employment without being held hostage to any third party for any reason.
