Court to hear case over politics, union fees

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear a Washington state case that will decide whether labor unions can spend bargaining fees from nonmembers on political causes without their explicit permission.

The case pits the Washington Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, against groups that seek to weaken the influence of labor unions by limiting their ability to use nonmember fees for political purposes.

Attorney General Rob McKenna appealed to the nation's highest court in June after the Washington state Supreme Court struck down a law requiring consent of nonmembers before their labor-negotiation fees could be spent to support a union's political agenda.

Under some collective-bargaining agreements, employees who are not members of a union must pay a fee to the union as a condition of employment.

The state's top court ruled 6-3 in March that the 1992 law violated the First Amendment by placing undue burdens on the free speech of WEA members.

The so-called paycheck-protection law, ruled unconstitutional by the state court, was passed by 73 percent of Washington's voters in a 1992 initiative.

"The initiative that was passed in Washington trampled on the rights of people to have a collective voice in politics. It made the rules so burdensome that it made it impossible to be active politically," said WEA President Charles Hasse.

The union, which represents about 80,000 teachers and other school employees statewide, gives nonmembers an opportunity to ask for a partial refund of their fee if they do not support the union's political agenda. Teachers who do not opt out pay the full fee.

Deputy Solicitor General Bill Collins said the courts found that about 8,000 nonunion teachers paid the fees.

Opponents of the union said they were pleased the U.S. Supreme Court would take on the case.

"This is a good indication of how the Supreme Court will likely rule," said Mike Reitz of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a think tank that played a key role in pushing the case against WEA. "No one should be forced to pay for political causes they do not support."

A ruling against the WEA would have wider negative repercussions for labor organizations by weakening their ability to fund political activities, said Professor Daniel Jacoby, chair of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in January.