Supreme Court ruled public sector workers cannot be forced to pay dues; unions take them anyway

In the five years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME that public sector workers cannot be forced to pay union dues, many unions have adopted a novel legal strategy in response: forgery. In case after case, workers have had money taken directly out of their paychecks by unions based on forged authorizations.

One such case concerns Maria Quezambra, a California single mother who in 2013 took part in a state program that helped her take care of her disabled daughter in her own home. United Domestic Workers of America AFSCME Local 3930 “represented” fund recipients like her on the tenuous grounds that they are state employees.

In essence, union-friendly state lawmakers allowed AFSCME to siphon money directly out of the stipend sent to Ms. Quezambra and others in the program. This is money that the recipients would otherwise use to take care of disabled people.

After the Janus ruling, Ms. Quezambra sought to invoke her rights to stop the involuntary union dues payments, demanding she be refunded going back to 2013. The union refused on the grounds that she had allowed the union to make the deductions. This was news to Ms. Quezambra.

The union “presented Ms. Quezambra a membership and dues deduction authorization card containing a forged signature that she purportedly signed. Ms. Quezambra did not sign this card,” her complaint states.

Read the full article on the Washington Times.