Supreme Court deadlocks over public employee union case; Calif. teachers must pay dues
By Robert Barnes
The Washington Post
March 29 at 11:45 AM
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it was unable to resolve a major challenge to organized labor, and the result was a defeat for a group of California teachers who claim their free speech rights are violated when they are forced to pay dues to the state’s teachers union.
The court said it was split 4 to 4 on the issue, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. It was the most important case yet in which the eight-member court was unable to reach a decision.
At oral argument, the court’s conservatives appeared ready to junk a decades-old precedent that allows unions to collect an “agency fee” from nonmembers to support collective-bargaining activities for members and nonmembers alike.
Organized labor considered it the most vital Supreme Court case of the year, and one of a clutch of politically charged cases that puts the justices in the spotlight as the nation turns its attention to the elections of 2016.
The plaintiffs in a Supreme Court challenge to organized labor explain their grievances in this video. The Supreme Court announced it was deadlocked on their case March 29. (Mackinac Center for Public Policy)
The case involves only public-employee unions — not private workers — but those unions are the strongest segment of an organized labor movement that is increasingly tied to the Democratic Party. At the same time, Republican governors across the nation have become embroiled in high-profile battles with the public-employee unions in their states.
Conservative groups directly asked the court to overturn a 1977 decision, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, that favored the unions. That ruling said that states could allow public-employee unions to collect fees from nonmembers to cover the costs of workplace negotiations but not to cover the union’s political activities.
At oral argument, it appeared the groups would get their wish. The conservative justice Scalia had actually been the best hope for unions beyond the four liberal justices. But his questions seemed to make clear that he sided with the challengers.
When the court is evenly split, it affirms the decision of the appeals court that considered it. In this case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said it was bound by the Abood decision and turned down the challenge.
Public unions saw the split decision as a victory.
“The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected a political ploy to silence public employees like teachers, school bus drivers, cafeteria workers, higher education faculty and other educators to work together to shape their profession,” said National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia.
“In Friedrichs, the court saw through the political attacks on the workplace rights of teachers, educators and other public employees. This decision recognizes that stripping public employees of their voices in the workplace is not what our country needs.”
“The death of Justice Scalia has proved a disaster for public sector workers who have their paychecks raided by unions,” said Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.”With the court gridlocked, government unions will continue to take dues from nonmembers, whether they like it or not. Four justices have voted against the free speech rights of workers to prop up labor union power.”
It is unlikely the fight is over. But Tuesday’s action makes clear that the outcome will depend on the court’s new justice.
The case is Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.
Robert Barnes has been a Washington Post reporter and editor since 1987. He has covered the Supreme Court since November 2006.
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