Posted on 05/26/2004 3:58:02 PM PDT by truth49
OLYMPIA – On Thursday, May 27, from 8:45-9:45 am, the Washington Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in an appeal of the 2003 Court of Appeals ruling declaring the state law prohibiting unauthorized use of non-member union fees for politics as unconstitutional.
The decision negated part of campaign finance Initiative 134, which was approved by 72 percent of Washington's voters in 1992.
The Washington Education Association (WEA) was sued by the state Attorney General (AG) and found guilty in July 2001 of willfully violating RCW 42.17.760, which prohibits the union from using fees taken from non-member teachers to advance political causes without permission from those teachers. The WEA was ordered to pay $570,000 in fines and penalties and return nearly $200,000 to teachers.
Since the state was unable to request refunds for the 5,000 to 8,000 eligible teachers, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) and the National Right to Work Foundation pursued a refund for them in a separate class action lawsuit.
The WEA appealed rulings in both cases. Attorneys for the WEA argued that money taken from teachers' paychecks belongs to the union and any attempts to limit their unauthorized use of teachers' money is an abridgement of the union's free speech rights.
By contrast, the Attorney General's office focused on the free speech rights of teachers, arguing that the union's practice of spending teachers' money on politics without their consent amounts to "forced political speech."
In a 2-1 ruling June 24, 2003, Washington's Court of Appeals ruled that the law violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, saying the First Amendment free speech rights of union official supercedes the First Amendment free speech rights of teachers.
Bob Williams, president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, called the Court of Appeals ruling, "a stunning blow to teachers and other union workers."
"The WEA actually argued in court that it has ‘no fiduciary duty' to its members. This is an outrageous claim that we hope all teachers will take note of," Williams said.
The Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a long-time advocate of free speech and fair elections, filed the original complaint against the WEA that sparked the Attorney General's case.
The consolidated case: Supreme Court No. 74268-5 - State Ex Rel Public Disclosure Comm. v. Washington Education Assoc. Court of Appeals No. 28264-0-II
Supreme Court No. 74316-9 - Gary Davenport, et al., v. Washington State Education Association Court of Appeals No. 28375-1-II
Oral arguments will be heard: May 27th, 8:45-9:45 am Washington State Supreme Court building 415 12th Ave SW, Olympia 98504
RCW 42.17.760 - Agency shop fees as contributions. A labor organization may not use agency shop fees paid by an individual who is not a member of the organization to make contributions or expenditures to influence an election or to operate a political committee, unless affirmatively authorized by the individual.
ping
How are fees taken from non-members? Don't understand.
Since Washington is not a right-to-work state, not being a an official member of the union holds little significance, you still have to pay the full union dues if your profession (i.e. teachers) is unionized.
"...attempts to limit their unauthorized use of teachers' money is an abridgement of the union's free speech rights."
The union has no free speech rights. The Constitution deals with the rights of individual citizens, not g**damned communist labor organizations! The WEA, and its subversive parent, the NEA, is the reason our kids are turning out the way the are.
Only for those expenses related to the collective bargaining agreement. The WA supreme court will reverse the Court of Appeals.
Initiative 134 was the brain child of Linda Smith.
In the mid-sixties Harry Beck began to question his union, the Communication Workers of America (CWA). What started as a struggle for more local union autonomy developed into a fight over misuse of forced union dues. Beck ultimately prevailed in the 1988 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, CWA v. Beck.
In 1976, 20 employees who chose not to be union members challenged CWA's use of their agency fees for purposes other than collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment. The National Right to Work Foundation represented the workers.
The District Court ultimately ruled, and the U.S. Supreme Court concurred, that only 21% of CWA's spending was on collective bargaining matters. Fully 79% was mis-spent on union politics. The courts further ruled that workers cannot be forced to support political speech through union dues.
Not surprisingly, the Beck decision has been ignored by labor unions. Today, most workers do not know of their "Beck Rights," or have difficulty exercising them. Unions continue to rake in billions of dollars in coerced payments each year, and dedicate vast sums to political candidates and causes without first receiving individual workers' authorization.
We should be grateful for people like Harry Beck who struggled for the rights of individual union workers. There are now 21 "Right to Work" states that have gone a step beyond Beck Rights. In these states workers who choose not to be union members are also freed from the obligation of paying for collective bargaining representation they don't want.
I hope you are right. The more I hear about the corruption in Washington State, the more I think of the old Scots complaint song "What a Parcel of Rogues in the Nation."
Washington has too many such rogues, and not enough people energized to give them the boot.
To expand on your comments,
How can the Union's have free speech rights when the SCOTUS just ruled that political parties have no free speech rights?
My Union told me, when I asked to take advantage of my Beck rights, that only 50 cents a month went to political spending (ha ha like I believe that) and that I would have to resign from the Union to get my 50 cents back.
If you read the NLRA of 34 it doesn't say they can't do it so that's how they make you knuckle under.
Even after retirement the union still wanted my money. In return for my "contribution", I would get a monthly newsletter. BFD to them. In other words, CWA was SOL.
I'm working on it.
Thanks. That sucks.
Citizens of this state have given teachers and hence the WEA huge amounts of money and it is time for someone to be accountable and that someone should be the WEA. I feel that the first step in getting education accountability is to "neuter" the WEA and that means cutting their influence in the legislature and that means money.
With that said, I would remind Freepers that State Supreme Court Justices are elected officals and they are not immune to letters from their constituency. You can bet the WEA has a letter and phone campaign underway right now.
I intend to point out to the justices that this state has a set of checks and balances. One of the balances to rampant violation of political campaign finance laws is the courts. Another check and balance is the state initiative process and the legislative process, and ultimately the ballot box if supreme court justices rule improperly on reigning in an out-of-control WEA.
The website to find your surpeme court justices so you can communicate with them is located at
http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/orgs/112.html
Link to Supreme Court directory page
I think that the above would be a good Freeper project, unless of course someone wanted to contact "Tim" and get a initiative going that would "neuter" the WEA so we could volte on it.
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