I detest free loaders. And a case recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court can have far reaching implications on that subject.
On Tuesday 1/21/2014, The Supreme Court debated a case of serious concern to labor unions and their employees nationwide.
The question is simply stated: should the court prohibit states from requiring public employees to pay fees to the unions that represent them?
The case from Illinois that reached the US Supreme Court might end up deciding if workers that do not join the public-employees union must pay compulsory fees to cover the cost of collective bargaining.
From Wikipedia: “… “Right-to-work” laws do not, as the short phrase might suggest, aim to provide a general guarantee of employment to people seeking work, but rather are a government regulation of the contractual agreements between employers and labor unions that prevents them from excluding non-union workers, or requiring employees to pay a fee to unions that have negotiated the labor contract all the employees work under…”
The Supreme Court since 1977 has said states have the power to require such payments — about half of them use it — so long as the fees are not used for political purposes.
As of this writing, 24 States and the Territory of Guam have adopted “right to work” laws.
As an Adjunct Faculty at San Jose State University, I have never had the opportunity or the reason to interact with the Faculty (teachers) Union, but I paid my dues.
If I benefit by the actions of the union, then I must be willing to contribute to the cause. The contribution can be in kind, time or money (dues). To me, it was not a matter of law or whether I wanted to be a part of the Teachers union or not; it is rather a matter of principle.
As several commentators have written, this case might be a not-so-veiled attack on the unions. And the attack comes camouflaged as a right protected under the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution.
No litigant can hope for a shield or weapon as powerful as the 1st Amendment
An interesting case to watch.
Balaji Venkatraman is an adjunct professor of Engineering at San Jose State University.
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