REBECCA Friedrichs, a government-school teacher in California for 28 years, wasn’t always a scourge of labour unions. A few years before volunteering to be the named plaintiff in a case challenging the power of unions to charge fees to non-members, Ms Friedrichs served on the executive board of her union’s local chapter. But she grew increasingly disillusioned with the California Teachers Association and is now at the centre of one of this year’s biggest Supreme Court cases.
On January 11th, when the justices hear arguments in Friedrichs v California Teachers Association, the future of public-sector unions in America will be on the table. Since 1977, when the Supreme Court decided Abood v Detroit Board of Education, states have been able to allow unions representing teachers, firefighters, police officer and other public employees to collect dues from everybody working under the contracts they hammer out with the government. No one is obliged to join a union—the...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/1OHu6OD
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