SCOTUSBLOG: The union dues case may be quite significant — there is not only the dissent but a narrower concurring opinion that says that “[t]he majority thus decides, for the very first time, that the First Amendment does require an opt-in system in some circumstances [for union dues]: the levying of a special assessment or dues increase.”
SEIU 1000 LOST today at the Supreme Court, once again revealing why the outcome in Wisconsin came out as it did, especially when you have Democrats preferring the non-union Blue Dog candidate who can’t figure out a working class message that’s better than “I’m not a union guy.”
Here’s basically what Knox v. Service Employees Int’l Union, Local 1000 was about:
Plain English Issue: Whether a state can require its employees to pay a special union fee that will be spent for political purposes without first giving the employees information about the fee and a chance to object to it.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled the annual notice from SEIU was enough.
Diane Knox and other non-SEIU members in California sued, saying the union didn’t give workers proper notice.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion, in a 7-2 ruling.
Having been a member of multiple performance unions over decades, it’s my opinion that unions continue to play their losing global economy hand poorly, which is hurting hourly workers everywhere.
In Boston, the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts has bailed on plans to fight legislation that affects teacher-seniority power in Massachusetts, which would have sent it to the ballot, the AFL-CIO Massachusetts agreeing, in a sign of things to come.
Cutting losses seems to be union strategy there, much as it is with women’s groups when handling the mini-Stupaks across the country, which were unleashed through Obama’s executive order on the Stupak Amendment. Women’s groups afraid of confronting the right for fear of what the Supreme Court might deliver on Roe.
Makes me wonder if and at what point employees will learn to strike on their own against their employers without union backing? The 12th of Never, which means wages will continue to fall, making the minimum wage the next battle line. How long it will take for politicians and unions to figure that one out is another story.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics offers sobering ways to track the basic hourly and weekly worker wage. Who can live on these numbers and at what level is something no politician is addressing, certainly not Obama and Romney, who at this point are focused on who can buy the presidency and how much it will cost.
And while we’re on the general subject, if you’re wondering why the recovery is stalling and people are getting nervous again, all you have to do is look at state layoffs for the answer. It’s austerity in action.
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