This is Bad! Attack on Teacher Unions is an Assault on Students, Workers and Democracy
The New York Times headline said "Mandatory Union Fees Getting Hard Look by Supreme Court." The picture caption showed "Harlan Elrich, a high school mathematics teacher in California," who "is party to a lawsuit challenging mandatory union dues." Of course fees and dues are not the same thing, which is the crux of the latest challenge to public employee unions in the United States.
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of public employee labor unions in the 1977 Abood v. Detroit Board of Education case. Writing for the court majority at that time, Justice Potter Stewart argued that whatever potential interference there might be with First Amendment rights was more than justified by the right of workers to form associations and constitutionally permitted to prevent individuals from benefiting from union activity without paying their far share and to promote "labor peace."
But the current court membership is much more rightwing and anti-union. In a 2012 majority opinion, Associate Justice Samuel A. (for anti-union) Alito argued "Because a public-sector union takes many positions during collective bargaining that have powerful political and civic consequences, the compulsory fees constitute a form of compelled speech and association that imposes a significant impingement on First Amendment rights." That opinion set the stage for the newest freedom of speech challenge to public employee unions.
This is the same Court majority that declared class war on the American people in the 2010 Citizens United decision when it overruled election financing reform and decided that wealthy corporations were "people" and had the right to send unlimited amounts of money to shape public opinion and influence elections. This has This is Bad! Attack on Teacher Unions is an Assault on Students, Workers and Democracy | Alan Singer:
