Powerful government unions weaken the economy
American taxpayers and workers won a big victory recently, with the United States Supreme Court ruling 5-4 in Janus versus American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) that government employees not part of a union could not be forced to pay union dues.
Previously, government employees in 22 states were forced to pay union dues to cover the cost of collective bargaining, even if they weren’t members of the union. One such employee, Mark Janus, at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, contended that the union dues he was obligated to pay the AFSCME violated his rights.
When Janus was hired for his job, he wasn’t told and had no idea that a union was involved until he noticed the deductions coming from his paycheque to pay the union. These dues, which he never agreed to, forced him as a condition of employment to pay for political advocacy undertaken by the union that he didn’t support.
The court’s ruling means that unions can no longer force Janus, along with millions of other government employees, to pay into unions without the worker’s consent. This makes unions more accountable to workers – if they don’t think the union is representing them well or if the union takes political positions contrary to what workers want, the workers can withhold funds.