In an ideologically split 5-4 vote (with Kennedy siding with the conservatives) the Supreme Court ruled the public sector unions cannot collect an "agency fee" from non-members in order to help advance political measures that benefit the employees collectively. This severely weakens the ability of unions to enable all public sector employees to act collectively, but enhances the ability of public sector employees to opt out of these efforts if they choose. The majority argued that forcing non-members to pay for the unions efforts violated their free speech rights.
Scotusblog has a rundown of the case, here's an analysis from Cornell's Law School. The opinion can be found here.
Opinions about it are mixed.
- The New York Times calls the Roberts Court. anti-union.
- A Washington Post writer argues that this is a victory for the free speech rights of non-union members.
- The American Prospect argues this is conservative judicial activism, they decided on an issue that was not argued before the court.
- A Forbes writer wonders if this ruling will apply to shareholders. Do they have to subsidize poliitcal speech?
