As teachers across Maine prepare to welcome their students for another year of sharing information and fostering knowledge, it is also a time for educators to focus on their own careers and what opportunities and goals lie ahead. Such reflection should include an examination of their relationship with their union and the value membership provides them.
While this type of routine evaluation is important anytime your hard-earned money is deducted from your paycheck, it is especially important for teachers, like me, and other public employees because we have new rights to make a choice of whether or not to pay union dues.
In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a historic ruling restoring rights to public employees, including teachers, to choose whether or not they want to pay union dues. In the case Janus v. AFSCME, the high court ruled in favor of Mark Janus, an Illinois state employee. The decision determined that no public employee in the country can be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. The decision affirmed the First Amendment rights for millions of workers.
This case isn’t just about Mark — every public employee across the country, including those in Maine, can now determine whether they want to continue supporting their unions financially. Whether you choose to belong to a union or not, your pay, benefits, pension and protection remain the same. Unfortunately, many workers don’t know about these rights.
In fact, a national poll recently released by the Teacher Freedom Project found that 77 percent of teachers have never heard of Mark Janus and 52 percent didn’t know they are no longer required to pay dues in order to keep their job.
For organizations known for their ability to communicate and organize, these staggering figures clearly demonstrate that informing teachers about the Janus decision was not a priority for union leaders. In fact, many unions have been proactively advancing policies to do just the opposite — prevent teachers from exercising their rights.
In Maine, as the school year came to an end, Gov. Mills signed into law L.D. 1451, which gives unions exclusive access to extensive personal information of public workers, including their home and personal telephone numbers, and personal email addresses. This makes it easier for unions to bombard public workers with appeals to join the union and pay them dues.
This shows how states and legislatures are helping support unions over workers, undermining the Janus decision’s First Amendment protections. In nearby Massachusetts, the Legislature tried to pass similar legislation but Gov. Charlie Baker wisely saw its flaws and potential for privacy violations. He sent the bill back to the Legislature with several amendments that included limiting the information employers can provide to unions and also requiring that employees be provided with information on their rights regarding union membership.
As is clear from these examples, Big Labor’s powerful grasp over worker’s rights continue to infringe on state employees’ freedom, even after the Supreme Court corrected the course. We are fortunate organizations like Workers for Opportunity are committed to advancing workplace freedom for employees across the country. This nonprofit helps educate workers about their new rights under the Janus decision.
While unions can play an important role in advocating for the interests of workers, often they fall short. The Janus decision is simply about giving workers a choice as it relates to the issues and causes their paychecks support. Instead of erecting hurdles and promoting limitations to worker freedom, unions should partner with employees and aid in informing workers about their rights, so they can make the right decision for their careers and their families.
— Karen Gerrish is an elementary computer class instructor and a former lawmaker who represented District 20 in the Maine House of Representatives.
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