A June 27 U.S. Supreme Court ruling declared that public-sector employees cannot be mandated to pay regular agency fees to unions that represent them in collective bargaining and in some instances, in grievances. By a 5-4 vote, justices overturned a 41-year precedent, ruling that the First Amendment protects public-sector employees including teachers and police officers from being required to support a private group that held different views.
“Public-employee union representatives will be forced to work harder to convince workers to join and remain union members, particularly those in non right-to-work states, like Ohio,” said Hoffer. Currently 28 states, including Kentucky and Indiana, have right-to-work laws that already make it illegal to require workers to join or pay union fees as a condition of employment.
