Jewish World Review: Supreme Court deals blow to unions

Jewish World Review June 22, 2012/ 2 Tamuz, 5772

Supreme Court deals blow to unions

By David G. Savage

JewishWorldReview.com

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0612/supreme_court_unions.php3

WASHINGTON—(MCT)The U.S. Supreme Court sharply criticized public-sector unions for using money from nonmembers to fund special political campaigns, stepping into the intense political debate about such unions and signaling that new constitutional limits may be coming.

The justices ruled Thursday that the Service Employees International Union in California violated the First Amendment rights of its dissident members by taking extra fees from their paychecks in 2005. The money was used to fight two anti-union ballot measures.

"This aggressive use of power by the SEIU to collect fees from nonmembers is indefensible," said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., speaking for the court's majority. "When a public-sector union imposes a special assessment or dues increase, the union ... may not exact any funds from nonmembers without their affirmative consent."

The court fight carried echoes of the recent battles in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states where Republican governors sought to limit the power of public-sector unions, and the two dissenters Thursday made reference to those tensions… http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0612/supreme_court_unions.php3

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