Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
In 2014, BCN blogged about Rebecca Friedrichs’s case against a teachers union, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. She and other like-minded educators in California don’t want to pay fees to a teachers union that donates money to politicians, especially leftists.
Teachers can opt out of union membership, but they must continue paying fees for collective bargaining as non-members. The group wants the court to strike down this fee requirement.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Friedrichs case on Monday, January 11. A plaintiff in the case, math teacher Harlan Erlich, wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. An excerpt:
I was a member of the union for years and even served as a union representative. But the union never played an important role in my school. When most teachers sought guidance, they wanted help in the classroom and on how to excel at teaching. The union never offered this pedagogic aid.
Instead, the union focused on politics. I remember a phone call I received before a major election from someone in the union. It was a “survey,” asking teachers whether they would vote for so-and-so if the election were held tomorrow. I disagreed with every issue and candidate the union was promoting. After that conversation, I thought about what the union represents. Eventually, I realized that my dues—about $1,000 a year—went toward ideas and issues that ran counter to my beliefs.
Erlich described how onerous it was to opt out of paying dues.
Also see this article at the Center for Individual Rights.
