Four Pennsylvania school teachers, two Santa Clara Valley Medical Center pharmacists, and three New York school workers have filed separate suits challenging the constitutionality of state requirements permitting the unions that represent them to require them, if they do not join and pay dues, to pay a “fair share fee” (similar in amount to the dues paid by union members) toward their union representation.
In Abood v. Detroit Board of Educ., 431 U.S. 209 (1977), the Supreme Court held that fair share fees were constitutional and that employees could be compelled to pay them as a condition of employment “insofar as [they] are applied to collective-bargaining, contract administration, and grievance-adjustment purposes.” The Pennsylvania, California, and New York public sector employees (represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation) seek to overturn that precedent and have the fees outlawed. They argue that the fee requirements violate their First Amendment rights.
In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Assoc., 136 S. Ct. 1083 (2016), the Court had an opportunity to reconsider its decision in Abood. The plaintiffs had...
