 Public employees can be forced to pay a labor union as a condition of employment
in the states highlighted on the map below.
us-public-sector-forced-unionism
Nearly half of all U.S. states allow public-sector union contracts to require
mandatory dues as a condition of employment, based on a review of U.S.
Department of Labor records, state labor laws and a National Right to Work Legal
Defense Foundation study from 2012.
Many of these states and local governments automatically deduct union fees from
public employees’ pay, funneling taxpayer money directly to labor bosses.
Although Missouri and Kentucky do not explicitly ban public-sector agency fees,
DOL reports indicate no major labor union in either state takes such fees from
government workers. Among the states where agency fees are permitted, statutes
governing the practice are far from uniform.
Wisconsin’s 2011 Act 10 labor reforms ending forced unionism for most government
workers exempted public safety unions. Michigan’s 2012 right-to-work law
included similar exceptions for public safety unions.
National Education Association and American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees — the nation’s largest and fourth-largest labor unions,
respectively — are leading opponents of laws that let workers opt out of both
union membership and fees.
AFSCME and NEA have lost thousands of members in Wisconsin and Michigan who were
previously required to pay fees through the unions’ local affiliates.
“If they still want to belong to the union and pay dues, government workers are
welcome to. But, when given the choice, a vast majority of workers have
abandoned their union,” Brett Healy, president of the Wisconsin-based MacIver
Institute, said in an email to Watchdog.org.
“Since (Wisconsin) Gov. Scott Walker passed his signature collective bargaining
reforms known as Act 10, AFSCME membership alone is down a whopping 70 percent
in the state.
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 “If unions were truly interested in helping workers — and not raw
political power — they would not need forced unionization,” Healy
said. “Wisconsin is a clear example of what the unions’ priorities
really are. They simply care about filling their own pockets, and
the pockets of their close political allies, with other people’s
hard earned money.”
Mackinac Center, Michigan’s largest free-market think tank,
reported on Sept. 8 that at least 6,500 Michigan Education
Association members have left the NEA affiliate. Many MEA contracts
with fair-share provisions were rushed through before Michigan’s
right-to-work law took effect, locking in tens of thousands of
teachers for several more years.
The following states’ labor laws allow public-sector unions to take
mandatory fees from public school teachers and other government
employees in unionized workplaces:
Alaska
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Montana
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington
[This
article courtesy of
Watchdog.]
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