The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to take on a case that could deal a heavy blow to public sector unions.
The court announced Tuesday that it will hear a challenge to whether government employee unions can require everyone in an industry to pay union dues.
The appeal has been filed by some teachers in California who’ve refused to join the union and are saying it’s a violation of their First Amendment rights to still have to pay dues.
Labor groups are very worried about the case, especially since last year the justices came close to overruling a 1977 Supreme Court decision that even those public sector employees who refused to join unions had to pay some dues since they benefited from the unions’ collective bargaining agreements.
The current Supreme Court has not been seen as friendly to unions, whose clout has greatly diminished in recent years as traditionally union-heavy states like Wisconsin and Michigan have severely curtailed labor’s ability to retain their current members and organize for new ones.
Unions are sounding the alarm.
“We are disappointed that at a time when big corporations and the wealthy few are rewriting the rules in their favor, knocking American families and our entire economy off-balance, the Supreme Court has chosen to take a case that threatens the fundamental promise of America — that if you work hard and play by the rules you should be able to provide for your family and live a decent life, ” the presidents of the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, AFSCME and SEIU said in a joint statement.
“The Supreme Court is revisiting decisions that have made it possible for people to stick together for a voice at work and in their communities — decisions that have stood for more than 35 years — and that have allowed people to work together for better public services and vibrant communities,” they said.
Union membership has declined to 11% nationally in 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, down from 20% in 1983. The court case could deal a blow to unions’ final stronghold — public sector employees — as 36% of government workers remain union members.
New York still has the highest union membership rate in the nation, at 25%.
