Lawsuit Settlement Rings Teachers' Union's Bell; California Teachers Association Must Repay $200 a Year to Resigning Members for Dues Spent on Politics
nationalcenter.org
The California Teachers Association (CTA), the state's largest teachers' labor union, can no longer prevent members from resigning from the union or requesting a refund of the portion of their mandatory dues spent for political purposes under the settlement terms of a class-action lawsuit.
"California's teacher union officials have feared this moment for decades: a time when teachers can free themselves from the union's grasp without obstruction," said Stefan Gleason of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, the organization that filed the lawsuit.
Teacher Judith Apple of San Diego tried to resign from the union because she disagreed with its political activities, but was told she would have to continue as a full member and pay full dues until her affiliate's bargaining contract expired in July of 1998. With foundation assistance, Apple filed suit in November of 1996, charging her compulsory union membership violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The settlement eliminates compulsory membership requirements from contracts, accepts all current and past resignation requests and mandates the rebate of all dues money not spent on collective bargaining, contract negotiation and grievances to all members who request it. Refunds are expected to total approximately $200 a year. The settlement affects all 250,000 CTA members.
"[T]eacher union officials diverted over 95% of teacher's compulsory union dues spent on politics into subsidizing the partisan interests of a single, narrow ideological group," said Gleason. "But now - with this federal court settlement - California's educators can no longer be forced along for the ride." |
