Posts tagged Abood v. Detroit Board of Education
Op-Ed: Public Sector Unions Should Only Speak for Their Members
September 3, 2024 //
ALASKA CASE GIVES SCOTUS A CHANCE TO REINFORCE JANUS
October 3, 2023 // Unfortunately, lower courts — including the Alaska Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — have been reluctant to hold either states or unions to that standard. If the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, it will effectively be asked to specifically apply to public employers the majority opinion issued just five years ago in Janus. If the court rejects the petition, the Alaska Supreme Court’s decision will stand. But even if the court takes up the case, a decision isn’t likely before winter. Most likely, months or years of written and oral arguments could be forthcoming. “Unless you agree to enforce it, even a landmark ruling like Janus is just a piece of paper,” Stahlfeld said. “Because unions and activist judges have been allowed to act as if Janus never happened, states like Alaska that want to comply with the ruling have been obliged to adopt legislation reinforcing what should have happened all along.”
Commentary: The Sly Economics of Government Union Activism
September 13, 2023 // When presented with the option to relinquish this exclusive representation, thereby freeing themselves from the obligation to represent nonmembers, unions invariably refuse. This reveals a glaring contradiction in their position. On one hand, they lament the “free riders” who benefit from union representation without paying dues. On the other, they zealously guard their monopoly over the public workplace, wanting to represent everyone in a bargaining unit, whether a member or not. The issue transcends mere percentages and numbers; it’s a matter of trust, transparency, and financial autonomy. Unions must reevaluate their approach to membership and adapt to the new legal landscape. The question: Will unions serve their members and charge them accordingly, or maintain their own political agendas by overcharging?
The Supreme Court hears a case this week that endangers workers’ ability to strike
January 10, 2023 // Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters should be a straightforward case. But nothing is ever straightforward in this Supreme Court.
How a Liberal State Defies the First Amendment
July 12, 2022 // Frank Ricci — a retired firefighter and former president of the New Haven Firefighters Local 825, and now the Yankee Institute’s Fellow of Labor & Special Initiatives — says that opt-out windows “equate to a dues grab where the union picks the pockets of their workers who are trying to leave.” Besides the money, it’s about power: The “small print of membership cards,” Ricci says, “are designed to trap the worker into membership.” The tactics result in “defying the Janus decision and increasing the union’s political power.” Michael Costanza, Constitution State Educators, Christina Corvello,
OC Lifeguards Push for Rehearing of First Amendment Challenge to Union Membership Trapping Scheme
May 23, 2022 // Restrictions will trap lifeguards in union membership and full dues payments for almost four years after they opted out of union