OpenMarket: Government Unions

On Monday, March 4, the California Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, upheld a major provision in the state’s 2012 pension reform legislation, but punted on the broader question of whether pension benefits are protected as contracts under the state constitution—and therefore cannot be altered.

Taxpayer dollars should be used to benefit the general public, not special interest groups. Yet, the state of Florida doles out a massive subsidy to government unions on an annual basis. This subsidy is known as union release time and permits public employees to perform union business on the taxpayer dime.

Earlier this week, I took a look at legislation that has been enacted to undercut the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Janus v. AFSCME. Unfortunately, state legislatures are just getting started. Today, I’ll examine a bill introduced in Oregon.

Prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME, government unions were already devising ways to keep members and dues flowing. In a previous post, I discussed some of the ideas that the National Education Association put forth to lessen the impact of a potential Supreme Court decision that ruled forced union dues unconstitutional.

The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) union contract negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have broken down. UTLA president Alex Caputo-Pearl called the contract offer from the school district “unacceptable.”

Labor unions like to promote the narrative that dues payments stay local. If you peruse union websites, a consistent message appears that reads something like this: “Most of your dues stay with your local union in order to fund activities that give workers more power at the bargaining table, in the statehouse and in the community.” Unions use the “dues stay local” slogan as a selling point during organizing campaigns and to recruit new members.

In a lengthy decision, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia effectively struck down a package of executive orders issued by President Trump that sought to ensure the efficient administration of public business. All that remains of the orders are broad policy statements that do not hold the force of law or provisions not challenged by labor unions. It is a near certainty that the Department of Justice will appeal this decision.

Every Medicaid dollar is statutorily required to directly fund care for the elderly or disabled. This requirement is known as the “direct payment requirement.” Congress, in enacting the Social Security Act, which created the Medicaid program, created narrow exceptions to this condition including sending Medicaid payments to governmental agencies or pursuant to an order of a court. 

Our friends at the State Policy Network have produced a compelling new video about the plight of men and women who have been forced to pay union dues as state healthcare workers when they’re simply caring for their own sick relatives and friends.

Public employees are no longer required to pay fees to a union as a condition of employment. This newfound freedom was secured by the United States Supreme Court decision this summer in Janus v. AFSCME. The court ruled that forcing public employees to fund union speech they disagree with violates their First Amendment rights.