Wisconsin Unions Sue to Maintain Coercive Power

Workers should find the union lawsuit against Wisconsin’s recently enacted right-to-work law (RTW) bizarre and, probably, offensive. The argument put forth by unions is that the new law is an unconstitutional taking of property. In other words, unions view a chunk of workers’ paychecks as their property even if that worker does not want union representation.

The Daily Kos reports:

The lawsuit says the new law “deprives the unions of all methods of charging nonmembers for the services that they receive from the unions.”

Unions trotted out the same argument against Indiana’s RTW law that was passed in 2012. Justices at the Indiana Supreme Court rejected the union lawsuit saying that “there is no state demand for services; the law merely prohibits employers from requiring union membership or the payment of monies as a condition of employment.”

Another reason the argument will not hold water is because the U.S. Supreme Court has time and again declared that federal labor law does not require unions to represent non-members and they may negotiate “members-only” contracts where non-members do not receive union services and do not have to pay dues.

The frivolous union lawsuit that is unlikely to succeed is just another reason why RTW laws are important. Why should workers, which did not vote for a union or desire union representation, be forced to financially support a union that uses their forced union dues payments to file lawsuits that have very little chance of success and would only benefit union leadership?