In a 5-4 decision in the Harris v Quinn case the US Supreme Court ruled that the 1st amendment prohibits the collection of agency fees for home health care workers who don’t wish to join the union.
It’s a surprise decision and could have wide-ranging implications. The decision is more than 25-pages long and was just released so it’s unclear exactly what was ruled but removing the requirement for public sector workers to pay union dues could undercut unions.
The Huffington Post had a preview that’s worth a quick read. In short, this has the potential to be a very big deal.
Update: It looks like the Supreme Court is taking a very limited view rather than anything sweeping over all unions. The ruling really only applies to limited cases of unions like domestic workers who are more like individual contractors than government employees. Bottom line: Unless you’re in an industry like that, it doesn’t change much.
