Share
Union leaders cheered as the U.S. Supreme Court tied, 4-4, Tuesday on a key labor case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. The tie upholds lower court rulings for the teachers and for unions’ right to collect agency fees.
Unions appeared headed for a 5-4 loss in the high court after the Jan. 11 argument of the case. But Justice Antonin Scalia, leader of the court’s conservative bloc, died a month later and no successor has been confirmed.
The justices’ one-sentence order only said they tied on Friedrichs, leaving intact the decision by a U.S. Court of Appeals in favor of the union.
The Friedrichs case is important to workers nationwide because the anti-union National Right to Work Committee funded the dissenting California teachers who sued. The dissenters claimed that “agency fees” – which non-members of bargaining units pay to cover the cost of required union services like contract bargaining and grievances handling – violated their free speech rights. They sued to overturn the fees.
Had the court ruled in favor of Friedrichs, every state and local worker would potentially be able to refuse to pay for the costs of union representation, depriving unions of millions of dollars they need to defend all workers. By law, unions must represent workers in their bargaining units, whether or not they pay dues.
“Labor unions victorious as the U.S. Supreme Court’s tie vote affirms lower court decision in favor of CTA,” the California Teachers Association headlined its breaking news story on the case. The state of California, defending its own law, had joined with CTA and other unions in opposing the Friedrichs case.
California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski agreed, but warned the battle isn’t over yet.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision…upholding lower court rulings that educators and other public servants have the right to a strong union in the workplace, is a momentous victory for working people,” Pulaski said.
“The court rightly upheld 40 years of precedent, rejecting the attacks by deep-pocketed corporate special interests that were the driving force behind the Friedrichs case. While this is an important win for workers, we know the fight isn’t over. Unions will continue the important work of organizing and mobilizing to beat back these attacks while aggressively pursuing real, lasting gains for workers that open up a path to the American dream for everyone.”
National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen-García, whose union includes the California Teachers Association, called the Friedrichs case “a political ploy to silence public employees like teachers, school bus drivers, cafeteria workers, higher education faculty and other educators to work together to shape their profession.”
By leaving intact the lower court ruling, the Supreme Court “recognizes that stripping public employees of their voices in the workplace is not what our country needs,” she said.