WASHINGTON (AP) – A Supreme Court dispute over public-sector union fees could sap the finances of organized labor and further erode the power of the nation’s labor movement.
The justices hear arguments Monday in a case that challenges the right of public-employee unions to collect fees from teachers, firefighters and other state and local government workers who choose not to become members.
A group of California public school teachers claims that such mandatory fees violate the First Amendment rights of workers who disagree with the union’s positions. Their lawsuit against the California Teachers Association seeks to overturn a nearly four-decade-old Supreme Court precedent that allows public unions to collect “fair share” fees from non-members to help cover the costs of collective bargaining.
The Supreme Court ruled in the 1977 case, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, that states can require non-members to pay the fees as long as the money doesn’t go to political causes. The court said the arrangement prevents non-members from becoming “free riders” who get all the benefits of union bargaining and grievance procedures without paying for it.
But the high court has raised serious doubts about the rationale of Abood in two recent cases. It has stopped short of overturning it both times, but four justices joined a 2014 opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that called Abood “questionable.” Alito said it is now harder to draw the line between collective bargaining and political ends.