Posted on 06/15/2007 7:04:50 PM PDT by neverdem
The Supreme Court yesterday unanimously upheld a Washington state law that requires public employee unions to get permission before making political contributions using fees they collect from nonmembers.
The law, unique in the nation, was adopted in a 1992 referendum to limit unions' spending of the "agency fees" they deduct from the paychecks of employees who do not belong to the unions but are represented by them in collective bargaining.
Washington state's Supreme Court struck the law down, saying that forcing the Washington Education Association (WEA), a teacher union, to get written waivers from employees before using their agency fees burdened the union's free-speech rights.
Yesterday, however, the U.S. Supreme Court threw that ruling out. Justice Antonin Scalia's opinion for the court noted, "The notion that this modest limitation upon an extraordinary benefit violates the First Amendment is, to say the least, counterintuitive."
The state law applied to all unions, public and private sector alike, but Scalia noted that yesterday's ruling affects only public-sector unions.
The cases against the WEA were originally filed by both the state of Washington and individual teachers supported by conservative legal foundations, which have called the issue a major test of workers' rights to dissent from union political activities.
Though no other states have adopted laws similar to Washington's, yesterday's ruling confirms that they have a right to do so.
But its immediate practical impact in Washington state was limited by the legislature's adoption of a new law on May 10 that stipulates union political spending is not considered to come from agency fees. The WEA supported the law. But the new law did not make the case moot, Scalia noted, because the teachers who...
--snip--
The consolidated cases are Davenport v. Washington Educational Association, No. 05-1589, and Washington v. Washington Educational Association, No. 05-1657.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
funny how everyone complains about “coporate” money in elections yet when it comes to union money there is silence...
A loss for the union leaders but a win for the union members. The members will finally have free speech rights!
EXCELLENT NEWS!!!
Wow! A 9-0 smackdown by SCOTUS really says alot about the quality of judges on the Wash. Supreme Court.
funny how everyone complains about “corporate” money in elections yet when it comes to union money there is silence...
That's amazing that even Stevens and Ginsburg reversed the SCOWA.
“funny how everyone complains about “corporate” money in elections yet when it comes to union money there is silence...
This Court case argues that you both need to have your hearing checked.
“That’s amazing that even Stevens and Ginsburg reversed the SCOWA.”
Does that give you more confidence in the wisdom of the Court’s decision?
Unions operate on intimidation. It will be easy to get permission one way or another. You can imagine what kind of treatment a worker will receive if he refuses to give his permission.
Second, notice that this applies to “public employees.”
Unions have steadily lost membership in the private sector over the years. States with Right to Work Laws and the fact that more people have caught on to union corruption have thinned the ranks.
Unions have long since learned that they can easily organize government workers. Government workers are inherently more susceptible to being organized into lock-step. In addition, government negotiators who deal with unions are not using their own money. It’s easier to give in to union demands while meeting in Hawaii than to fight for the taxpayers’ money.
So this does not mean very much.
great news
Unfortunately, you are probably quite right! It's sad that there's been a "Beck" law on the books for years but the yoonyun goons just keep on keepin on without any more regard of our laws than the horde of illegal aliens invading the United States of America with the blessing of far too many Republican elected leaders and law makers!!!
The Pacific Legal Foundation guy was on Sacramento radio really beatin his chest over this "victory" this past week!!!
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