By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a major victory yesterday for teachers and other public sector employees who don’t want to fund political causes they don’t agree with.

By a 7-2 vote, the court ruled that the Service Employees International Union in California went too far in 2005 when the labor union took extra money from nonmembers’ paychecks to fund campaigns against two anti-union ballot initiatives. Nonmembers are public employees who opt-out of the local union, but who are forced by law to pay a monthly service fee to the union.

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“This aggressive use of power by the SEIU to collect fees from nonmembers is indefensible,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito. “When a public-sector union imposes a special assessment or dues increase, the union … may not exact any funds from nonmembers without their affirmative consent.”

Alito also wrote that the traditional practice of requiring nonmembers to opt out of paying regular dues “represents a remarkable boon for unions. Unions have no constitutional entitlement to the fees of nonunion members.”

That’s wonderful news for hundreds of thousands of non-radical teachers who are forced to fund political opponents, or candidates and causes they have no interest in. Really, it’s wonderful news for all freedom-loving Americans who believe in the First Amendment.

“This case is pretty revolutionary because it says we’re moving from an opt-out system to an opt-in system,” Paul Secunda, a law professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, told the Los Angeles Times. “It will make it harder for unions to raise money and fight for their values.”

Coming on the heels of the failed recall against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, yesterday’s court decision could serve as the knock-out punch against public sector unions.

Teacher unions (and other public sector unions) seem to have reached a tipping point. A growing number of Americans believe teacher unions have outlived their usefulness, and in fact, are responsible for the excessive spending and restrictive work rules that keep schools from functioning at peak performance.

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This new court decision will undoubtedly inspire more teachers and public employees to challenge their union leadership over questionable or inappropriate fees. Perhaps some will even be inspired to start a movement to replace radical union bosses with more moderate leaders.

This is change we can definitely believe in.