Supreme Court Overturns Public Union Precedent
Supreme Court Overturns Public Union Precedent
In a closely watched case, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned 40 years of precedent by ruling that mandatory public-sector union dues are unconstitutional.
In a 5-4 vote today, the justices held that states and public-sector unions may no longer require workers to pay agency fees. "Neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a nonmember's wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay," Justice Samuel Alito Jr. wrote for the majority.
In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the decision will have large-scale consequences. "Public employee unions will lose a secure source of financial support. State and local governments that thought fair-share provisions furthered their interests will need to find new ways of managing their workforces," she wrote.
