METRO WASHINGTON LABOR COUNCIL AFL-CIO
  • Home
  • Board & Staff
  • Who We Are
  • Calendar
  • Evening With Labor
    • Archive >
      • 2021 Evening With Labor
      • 2019 Evening With Labor
      • 2017 Evening With Labor
      • 2018 Evening With Labor
      • 2015 Evening With Labor
      • 2016 Evening With Labor
  • Stay Connected
  • Programs
    • Community Services >
      • Espanol
      • Mission
      • Donate Now
      • Programs
      • Funders
      • Archives
    • Political Action >
      • Archive
      • Mission
      • Elected Officials
      • Endorsements
      • DMV Voters Guide
      • Candidate Questionnaires: Archive 2006-2014 >
        • 2018
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • Other
        • 2012
        • 2010
        • 2008
        • 2007
        • 2006
    • DC unemployment appeals
  • Hiring Hall
    • ADMINISTRATIVE
    • COMMUNICATIONS
    • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
    • INTERNSHIPS
    • LEGAL
    • MISC
    • ORGANIZING
    • POLITICAL
    • RESEARCH
  • Affiliates

Agency fees and the future of the union movement hit the Supreme Court

2/26/2018

 
Picture
 “Agency fees,” paid by non-union public workers whom unions represent in many states, hit the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26. But what was really at stake was the future of the union movement. “You’re basically arguing, ‘Do away with unions,’” Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the attorney for the union foes who brought the case, William Messenger of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund. As the justices heard the case inside the court’s white-marbled hall, unionists made themselves heard outside. More than 1,000 demonstrated for worker rights on the plaza outside the building. And they drew support from pro-choice, civil rights and community allies. A much smaller group supported the right to work crowd. The case is the most important labor case to hit the High Court in decades, said attorneys for both the union and the state of Illinois, whose law lets AFSCME collect the agency fees from the non-members. ​

Picture
“The state’s interest here is dealing with a single spokesman, and that they” – the union – “have a duty of representing everyone,” Illinois Solicitor General David Franklin told Justice Elena Kagan. That includes the non-members, he added. “A two-tiered workplace” where some people pay dues and the rest are free riders “would be corrosive to collaboration and cooperation,” he added. And, to keep their members, unions might be forced to become more militant, including demanding the right to strike. Making all state and local government workers free riders, “drains the union of resources that make it an equal partner” in bargaining with the state and local employers, Justice Ginsburg re-emphasized. The two silent GOP justices were Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, the court’s newest member, named by Trump, whose lower-court rulings and writings were consistently anti-worker. That lineup has led court specialists to predict unions will lose the case 5-4 on party lines. The court will decide Janus by late June.
- Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff Writer; photos by Chris Garlock/Union City


Comments are closed.
    Picture

      Sign up here for the latest DC-area labor news!

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    COMMUNITY SERVICES

    EN ESPANOL

    DC UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS

    LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

    Tweets by @DCLabor

    ​Leaders & Staff

    AFFILIATES

    Constitution

    Documents

    AFFILIATE Social Media

    HIRING HALL

    Evening with Labor

    Union City News

    UNION SHOP

    UNION PLUS

Share any story to Facebook, Twitter or via email!
Just click on the story ​and then click on the  social media icon!
COPYRIGHT METRO WASHINGTON LABOR COUNCIL AFL-CIO 2023
202-974-8150; [email protected]
  • Home
  • Board & Staff
  • Who We Are
  • Calendar
  • Evening With Labor
    • Archive >
      • 2021 Evening With Labor
      • 2019 Evening With Labor
      • 2017 Evening With Labor
      • 2018 Evening With Labor
      • 2015 Evening With Labor
      • 2016 Evening With Labor
  • Stay Connected
  • Programs
    • Community Services >
      • Espanol
      • Mission
      • Donate Now
      • Programs
      • Funders
      • Archives
    • Political Action >
      • Archive
      • Mission
      • Elected Officials
      • Endorsements
      • DMV Voters Guide
      • Candidate Questionnaires: Archive 2006-2014 >
        • 2018
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • Other
        • 2012
        • 2010
        • 2008
        • 2007
        • 2006
    • DC unemployment appeals
  • Hiring Hall
    • ADMINISTRATIVE
    • COMMUNICATIONS
    • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
    • INTERNSHIPS
    • LEGAL
    • MISC
    • ORGANIZING
    • POLITICAL
    • RESEARCH
  • Affiliates