Labor Union Violations

Issue:

To pay or not to pay union dues? Labor unions charge an agency fee for the services they provide, such as collective bargaining, contract enforcement, and representation at disciplinary and grievance hearings. While twenty-three (23) states believe that employees have to pay unions fees, the other twenty-seven (27) believe that those fees should not have to be a requirement for employment. For anything to function cohesively, all parts must be on the same page and in support of one another. But is collecting union dues wrong?

Rules:

Under the National Labor Relations Act Section 8(a)(3), the right of a union to collect fees, known as a “union-security” agreement, and will be enforced if it is included in the collective bargaining

In these states, it is up to each employee in the workplace to decide whether or not to join the union and pay dues, even though all workers are protected by the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the union. Under New York State law, the right to charge an agency fee to public employees represented by a union is provided under the NYS Public Employees’ Fair Employment Act Section 208. Under this law, any employee organization that has been recognized or certified as the exclusive representation for the employee, member of the state police, or of the capital buildings; give the right to the Office of General Services to deduct from the wage/salary of the employee in such a negotiating units for those who are not member of the employee

We especially see that in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, Rebecca Friedrichs and other teachers argued that forcing them to pay fees for the union’s collective bargaining costs amounts to compelled speech in violation of their First Amendment rights. In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition from nine California public school teachers to rehear their First Amendment challenge to mandatory union fees. Due to Justice Scalia’s death, the case was decided 4-4. The suit claims state “agency shop” laws, which require public employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment, violate well-settled principles of freedom of speech and association. While many teachers support the union, others do not; and the state cannot constitutionally compel an individual to join and financially support an organization with which he or she disagrees.(cir-usa.org) According to cnsnews, “In Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977), the Supreme Court upheld “agency shop” arrangements, where government employees who do not join a union must pay an agency fee for a “fair share” of the union’s collective bargaining costs, because the nonmembers supposedly benefit from collective bargaining agreements. The law also argues that the school did not have to settle for that union; if majority of the