Supreme Court sides against mandatory union dues
A divided U.S. Supreme Court said government employees have a constitutional right not to pay union fees in a ruling that affects 5 million workers and deals a heavy blow to the labour movement.
The 5-4 decision overturns a 1977 Supreme Court ruling that had let public-sector unions collect so-called agency fees from non-members to help cover the cost of collective bargaining. The court’s newest member, Neil Gorsuch, joined his conservative colleagues in the majority.
Writing for the court, Justice Samuel Alito said mandatory fees violated the free speech rights of workers who disagree with the union’s positions.
“It is hard to estimate how many billions of dollars have been taken from nonmembers and transferred to publicsector unions in violation of the First Amendment,” Alito wrote. “Those unconstitutional exactions cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.”
The case split the court along ideological lines. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
“There is no sugarcoating today’s opinion,” Kagan wrote for the group. “The majority overthrows a decision entrenched in this nation’s law — and in its economic life — for over 40 years. As a result, it prevents the American people, acting through their state and local officials, from making important choices about workplace governance.”
President Donald Trump, on Twitter, called the ruling a “Big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!”
The ruling came on the final opinion day of a Supreme Court term that featured a series of 5-4 victories for conservatives, including Tuesday’s decision upholding Trump’s travel ban.