Teachers' Union Girds For Supreme Court Setback, Pledges To Grow Membership
WASHINGTON -- Faced with its gravest threat in years from the Supreme Court, one of the country's largest labor unions is preparing for a ruling that could make it much more difficult to collect fees from the workers it represents.
This weekend, the American Federation of Teachers passed a resolution pledging to speak individually with each of its 1.6 million members about getting more involved in the union. According to the resolution, union officials are developing a plan they hope will double the number of union activists in their ranks.
The subtext of the move has to do with Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that the Supreme Court recently announced it will hear in autumn. An unfavorable ruling for public-sector unions could ban what are known as fair share agreements, which require that all workers pay fees to the union to help cover the costs of collective bargaining. A union like the AFT must represent all the workers under a given contract, so the union says it's only fair that everyone contributes.
Though the legitimacy of fair share fees was upheld by the court decades ago, Justice Samuel Alito signaled in another recent union case, Harris v. Quinn, that the conservative-leaning court might strike down fair share fees on the basis of the First Amendment. Due to the financial impact that would have, Friedrichs is widely seen as a case that could devastate public-sector unionism.
The obvious solution, many unions have recognized, is to convince workers of their unions' relevance, so that they support the union even if the court gives them an opportunity to opt out.
"We started talking about it well before Friedrichs, and well before Harris v. Quinn, but I do see it as the antidote to Friedrichs," AFT President Randi Weingarten told Teachers' Union Girds For Supreme Court Setback, Pledges To Grow Membership:
