Union Dues and the Paranoia of an Anti-Union Group

The statewide teachers union for Pennsylvania has stopped collecting “fair share” dues (technically called fees) from teachers who don’t want to join a union. The union didn’t want to do this. They did it, however, because of the recently decided case from the Supreme Court, called Janus. 

(See dog above, who is illustrating how PSEA is treating non-paying teachers.)

The anti-union group known as Right to Work Foundation served the Pennsylvania State Education Association with a new lawsuit. Let’s listen in to the lawyer for Right-to-Work as he spoke to a federal court:

“In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, it is critical that any authorization for public sector forced dues be permanently removed from state law, so unscrupulous union bosses cannot use unconstitutional provisions to attempt to deceive workers about their right not to fund a labor union,” said Mark Mix, the president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
Aha. Let's have a lawsuit to prevent an attempt of collecting dues (that has not happened nor has been planned or threatened to happen). 

Here is what the union told the court:

“There is no effective form of relief that can now be ordered. Any judgment in plaintiffs’ favor would amount to an advisory opinion holding what Janus has already established and ordering the defendants to do what they have already done.”

In other words, according to the union, the anti-union group has won—so there is nothing more to litigate here. 

Right to Work’s reply?

“The Supreme Court could not and did not strike down Pennsylvania law when it decided Janus because no one raised a justiciable challenge in Janus to Pennsylvania’s fair share fee statutes. The Supreme Court did not even discuss how Pennsylvania laws authorizing fair share fees might relate to the Illinois statute at issue in Janus. That is to say, Janus necessarily left Pennsylvania law intact.”

Well, winning is a problem when you achieve your ultimate goal. You run out of unions and states to sue. 
That won’t stop Right to Work. They’ll keep their anti-union lawyers busy suing teacher associations in all 50 states, long after unions are simply walking away from a bruising loss this summer.