Public Sector Union Blues

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Public Sector Union Blues

This decision by the Supreme Court is far, far more important than it seems on the surface.

Supreme Court deals big setback to labor unions

From the article:

Quote

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that government workers can’t be forced to contribute to labor unions that represent them in collective bargaining, dealing a serious financial blow to organized labor.

The court’s conservative majority scrapped a 41-year-old decision that had allowed states to require that public employees pay some fees to unions that represent them, even if the workers choose not to join.

The 5-4 decision fulfills a longtime wish of conservatives to get rid of the so-called fair share fees that non-members pay to unions in roughly two dozen states. Organized labor is a key Democratic constituency.

The court ruled that the laws violate the First Amendment by compelling workers to support unions they may disagree with.

The philosophical implications of this should be clear to anyone who is familiar with Rand's works. This is a good day for freedom.

As Rand Paul put it:

Today the Supreme Court in #Janus gave every public sector worker in America back their First Amendment rights and freedom of association.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 27, 2018

As for the practical political implications, Grover Norquist was about as clear as clear could be:

What does the Janus Supreme Court decision mean?
It means California, New Jersey, even New York can become purple.
The Blue wall was always a wall of coerced union dues.

— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) June 27, 2018

And the drift continues under President Trump from coerced action simply for living and working. He didn't have a direct hand in this decision, although he did appoint Justice Gorsuch...

 

Michael