CUNY Faculty Take On Their Union. Should college professors be compelled to accept representation from an organization they loathe?

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | January 19, 2024 | George Leef

[karpov]

Collective bargaining through a labor union is supposed to “level the playing field” for workers, enabling them to obtain better terms than if they bargained on their own. That is the justification for federal and state laws that give elected unions exclusive representation power, meaning that all of the workers must accept the union as their representative. Individuality is out.

That arrangement is fine with many, but what if some workers are unhappy with “their” union? What if they don’t think the union operates in their interest? What if it makes public statements they disagree with?

The unions reply, “Too bad, but union solidarity is essential and must be preserved.”

A group of professors at the City University of New York (CUNY) disagree and have filed a lawsuit seeking freedom from their faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), which not one of them ever voted for.

Avraham Goldstein, Michael Goldstein, Mitchell Langbert, and other plaintiffs are members of the CUNY faculty and face this choice: either abandon their jobs at the university or remain tied to the PSC, which, under New York’s Taylor Law, has exclusive representational power over them. What especially bothers the professors is that PSC takes public positions that are antithetical to their religious and political beliefs. They argue that New York’s law violates their constitutional rights.

The professors, it must be stated, do not have to pay dues to PSC. That is because of the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which held that public employees cannot be compelled to pay for the right to work at their jobs. The Court’s reasoning was that, when public unions speak, their speech is unavoidably political in nature. To force members to pay for speech they disagree with violates their First Amendment rights.

[Alberta's Child]

I don’t think they should be compelled to belong to an organization for any reason whatsoever. Things do get a bit complicated when it comes to labor relations, though.

[EQAndyBuzz]

They could unionize or have tenure. Not both.

[coalminersson]

either vote the union out or don’t

[EinNYC]

NYC public school teachers had to belong to the loathesome UFT union if they wanted to teach.

[Pontiac]

It’s all Identity politics now.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion with the exception of including excellence