The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt a big blow to organized labor, ruling that non-members cannot be forced in certain states to pay fees to unions representing public employees such as teachers and police, shutting off a key union revenue source.
The 5-4 ruling overturned a 1977 Supreme Court precedent that had permitted these so-called agency fees, which have been collected from millions of workers who opt not to join unions in lieu of union dues to fund non-political activities such as collective bargaining.
The court's conservative justices were in the majority, with the liberal justices dissenting.
Forcing non-members to pay these fees to unions whose views they may oppose violates their rights to free speech and free association under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, the court said in the ruling authored by Justice Samuel Alito.
"States and public-sector unions may no longer extract agency fees from non-consenting employees," Alito wrote.
Forcing non-members to pay these fees to unions whose views they may oppose violates their rights to free speech and free association under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, the court said in the ruling authored by Justice Samuel Alito.
"States and public-sector unions may no longer extract agency fees from non-consenting employees," Alito wrote.
In a dissent, Justice Elena Kagan accused the court's conservatives of "weaponizing the First Amendment" to intervene in economic and regulatory policy.
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