The Supreme Court announced its decision in Janus v AFSCME on June 27. In its simplest form, the court struck down something referred to as "agency fees". Agency fees were a form of alternate payment made by employees who chose not to join the union. Historically, agency fees were established to ensure that all employees, regardless of union membership status, contributed to defray the costs of collective bargaining and contract administration. As of June 27, the court ruled that non-members no longer have to pay agency fees - that they could pay nothing. This was a political decision by the court as were so many other recent decisions. The political goal was to end the power of unions by allowing for "free riders". The more free riders there are, the fewer assets unions would have at their disposal to ensure employees have a voice at the table. The ultimate goal of anti union forces is the end of unions all together. If enough free riders materialize, unions themselves will no longer exist, and union contracts will become a thing of the past.
In short, this was a move to de-fund unions which would (presumably) undercut the ability of workers to stand up for fair wages and benefits. The lawsuit itself was bankrolled by conservative groups like the Koch brothers looking to destroy unions. Make no mistake about it: the Janus case, though presented as a first amendment issue, is really about corporate greed and the desire to destroy unions. These same groups fund organizations like the Yankee Institute. Their goal is to destroy unions and to prevent employees from having a collective voice in the workplace. These groups hide their true intent with misleading names such as "Right to Work Now" or in some fashion use the terms such as "workers" or "rights" or "liberty" in their name. This is meant to mislead you into thinking that their's is a worker's movement designed to emancipate employees. In reality, these groups want to bring an end to public sector union contracts. The first step towards this nefarious goal was to get an anti-union decision from the now extremely right wing Supreme Court. The next step: national efforts by Koch brother funded organizations to get union members to rip up their union cards.
You can expect that at some point in the future you may be contacted by one of these organizations. The conversation will go something like this: "Give yourself a raise. Opt out. Leave YOUR union. The union has to represent you anyway". They are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into these efforts. But you have to ask yourself why? Why are they suddenly spending all this money to help me? They are not. They are trying to deceive you. They claim to be advocating for free choice - but their real goal is to silence workers, deflate wages, and curtail pension and healthcare benefits. Do you think the Yankee Institute is on your side? Of course it isn't. They want an end to union contracts. They and organizations like it can achieve that by convincing union members to shred their union cards. Taken to the extreme, if enough employees become free riders, unions will cease to exist. If unions cease to exist, so will union contracts. At some critical tipping point, union contracts would become a thing of the past and with them the benefits we now enjoy.
What is certain is that our union provides a voice for workers and the ability for your concerns to be heard at the bargaining table. Our union fights for our mutual interests. Our union officers are fellow state employees. Our interests are your interests. We keep an eye on the goings-on at the capitol. Our union has a strong collective voice. Our union is a strong advocate of these interests. Our union gets its strength from its membership. This basically comes down to wages, working conditions, healthcare, and pensions. If these things matter to you, if you want to defend pay and benefits, and if you want to have a say in your future, it should be obvious that union membership is the way to go.
So, if you are contacted by one of these opt-out groups asking if you know what your rights are, let them know you do and tell them that you are sticking with the union.
We have reports that some A&R members received mailers promoting a union opt-out campaign. This is certain to be the operation of some Koch brother-like out-of-state special interest group. These are well funded (as in hundreds of millions) national operations. Their views on workers' rights are to bring an end to collectively bargained contracts. They want an end to collective bargaining altogether. To do that, they want unions to be disbanded. Along the way they get unions to defund themselves for their own political gain.
Top on their list - and their primary target - public sector unions. If they can convince enough people to opt-out it leads to decertification. Our union ceases to exist - as do our contracts. Wages, hours, healthcare and pension benefits (if any) will be determined solely at the employer's discretion. Seniority protections – think again! Seniority becomes meaningless without a contract– you will be work at will and fire at will. Without contracts that's what we all face.
Please know that A&R did not (and does not) share members contact information with outside parties. We suspect these members addresses were obtained from the state via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. If so, the group sponsoring the mailer effectively exploited our state's FOI laws to invade your privacy. Such tactics are not surprising as they are simultaneously being deployed across the country. These national anti-union attacks are funded with hundreds of millions of dollars by conservative political interest groups. They are spending huge sums of money on these opt-out campaigns. They will tell you to give yourself a raise by withholding your union dues. But you have to ask yourself why? Why are they suddenly spending all this money to help me?
They are not. They are trying to deceive you. They claim to be advocating for free choice - but their real goal is to silence workers, deflate wages, and curtail pension and healthcare benefits. Do you think conservative interest groups sponsored by the Koch brothers and the like are on your side? Of course they aren’t. They want a permanent end to public sector union contracts. If they can convince union members to shred their union cards they will achieve that goal by default. Make no mistake, these groups have no concern for your welfare or success, they simply want to succeed in their political goal which is to break unions. They want to end collective bargaining entirely. Without a union contract - OUR UNION CONTRACT - working conditions, including pay rates, hours, seniority rights, vacation time - everything - would be determined simply at the whim of the legislature. As union members, we pay union dues to fund our ability to have a voice at the bargaining table and to enforce our contract benefits.
The opt-out campaign may try to deceive you into thinking the union only is looking out for its own interests’. Don’t be deceived – that’s not the case. Our union is not some group looking to simply support itself. Our union’s leadership team consists of elected fellow state employees with identical interests because we are state employees. If the union fails, the elected officers return to their state jobs. The union does not seek to exist simply to exist. It exists to give a voice to employees and the right to for all of us to collectively bargain. While not every of our 2,700 members agree on all issues, union actions are done by consensus.
So, if you are contacted by one of these opt-out groups asking if you know what your rights are, let them know you do and tell them that you are sticking with the union.