It's a long way until June when a decision will be rendered, but U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical in oral arguments Monday of continuing to force public-sector employees to pay union dues to organizations with which they disagree.
A group of 10 California teachers brought the suit, saying their free-speech rights are being violated by having to pay into the California Teachers Association, which by law represents them but whose political positions - almost uniformly favoring Democratic candidates and policies - they do not support.
California's solicitor general, arguing in favor of the teachers' association, tried to explain that the fees typically don't apply to political matters, but Chief Justice John Roberts had none of it. No doubt having seen how unions have become more and more political, he retorted that even routine matters can be politically charged if they involve how the state spends money.
"That's always a public policy issue," he said.
The 1977 case on which current law is based allowed the unions to collect the dues from members and nonmembers as long as the funds aren't spent for political action.
But that's exactly what happens, according to the teachers who brought the suit. Even a push for higher salaries and benefits raises political questions about the best use of tax dollars for cash-poor school districts, they said.
California is one of 25 states which do not have right-to-work laws. In right-to-work states, employees are allowed to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. Because of that, about 80 percent of workers represented by public-sector unions are in states - like heavily Democratic California, New York and Illinois - that do not have right-to-work laws.
Tennessee, on the other hand, is a right-to-work state.
Labor officials say a ruling against them in this case could threaten their very existence, but unions (see above editorial) always seem to find ways to get their way when they have stacked organizations like the National Labor Relations Board and an entire political party - the Democratic Party - behind them. Come summertime, we'll see if a Supreme Court ruling changes anything.