Union ‘Opt-Out’ Measures Could Dilute Supreme Court Ruling, Teachers Worry

By Kevin Mooney on March 8, 2018

Government workers who don’t want to join unions should be able to “opt in” rather than “opt out” of union fees that finance political activism, some California teachers argue.

“Unions don’t want people to know how to opt out; they harass you and bully you once you do try,” @4kidsandcountry says.

Unless the nation’s highest court prohibits public employee unions from deducting dues and other fees from paychecks without consent, those workers will be forced to help pay for causes they don’t support, according to the teachers, who have filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles.

Two teachers who are plaintiffs in Yohn v. California Teachers Association described to The Daily Signal how union “opt-out schemes” may be used to dilute any new ruling from the Supreme Court in favor of state government workers who have challenged mandatory union fees under the First Amendment.

The teachers argue for the “opt in” approach both in their own case and in a friend-of-the-court brief filed on behalf of Illinois state workers in Janus v. AFSCME, a case now before the Supreme Court.

“The Janus case is making the same free speech argument that my case is,” Ryan Yohn, the lead plaintiff in the …read more