Supreme Court Ruling May Affect Maryland Unions

The Janus case held that public sector unions may not collect fees from public sector employees who are not members.

The Supreme Court decided a case that could have wide-ranging effects in public unions across the U.S. As described in the SCOTUSblog Opinion Analysis, Court strikes down public-sector union fees (Updated),

This morning the Supreme Court announced that government employees who are represented by a union but do not belong to that union cannot be required to pay a fee to cover the union’s costs to negotiate a contract that applies to all employees. The 5-4 decision overturned an earlier ruling, dating back to 1977, that allowed the unions to charge such fees, which are often known as “fair share” or “agency” fees. Opponents of the fees hailed today’s ruling as a major victory for the First Amendment, while Justice Elena Kagan, who wrote the main dissent in the case, warned that the ruling could disrupt “thousands of ongoing contracts involving millions of employees.”

The Maryland State Education Association, Maryland’s statewide 74,000 member educators’ union, regularly advocates for fair share fees and sought a friendly ruling in the Janus case. As described in the Association’s endorsement of Attorney General Frosh,

In addition to protecting students and preventing school privatization, Attorney General Frosh has been a leading defender of workers’ rights to organize—essential to protecting the middle class and preventing greater income inequality. He eagerly worked with attorneys general from around the country to submit an amicus brief in support of fair share fees in the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court case.

For more information see Opinion analysis: Court strikes down public-sector union fees (Updated) from SCOTUSblog.

 

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