Union rights

The US Supreme Court will be hearing a very important case soon.

"The court will be hearing oral arguments in two related cases involving the First Amendment rights of unions to fund political candidates. Although the cases involve a Washington State law, the court could use the opportunity to issue a ruling that would make it more difficult for unions nationwide to collect money from employees they represent."

One of the lawsuits was brought by a group of non-union teachers who still had to pay union dues and they were upset that the union dues were going to support political candidates that they did not wish to support.

This brings up the question - should teachers be forced to join a union?

"Will Supreme Court Give Teachers The Right of Free Speech
by Diane Lenning
In January, 2007, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the consolidated cases: Davenport v. Washington Education Association (WEA) and Washington v. WEA. Many say these are within the top three cases of the year. For many teachers such as my self, this just may be the case of a lifetime. My dreams as a teacher fulfilling ideals of my profession were dashed many years ago when I realized I would not be included within the top echelon of my profession because of my political beliefs. Along with many teachers across America, I have worked very hard my entire career to bring equity to teachers. I am honored to attend the Supreme Court hearings. In the stroke of a pen, the unusual decision of Justice Ireland, reversing the Washington State decision in the spring of 2006, diminished individual rights of “free speech” for teachers who are already “silenced” and overpowered by the structure of the union.
The importance of this case, however, is not necessarily solely the free speech rights of teachers. It is much, much more. When free speech rights are diminished by the supreme law of the land for any segment of society, it diminishes the free speech rights of all Americans. The hope of our society hinges much upon the decision to be made by the Supreme Court in 2007 in the Washington State cases versus WEA union.
In the spring of 2006, Justice Ireland, in a landmark reversal decision, declared the rights of the union as more important than the free speech rights of individual teachers, thereby, diminishing the Constitutional rights of all Americans.
Effectively, the decision was the union’s “burden” to keep paperwork of a teacher’s decision regarding how one’s union dues were spent on politics was “balanced” to be more important for society than the individual rights of a teacher’s choice in how one’s union dues are spent in politics; basically, silencing, or greatly diminishing one’s democratic voice, if you disagree with union leaders.
In other words, as a teacher, if you disagree with the union leaders, you pay for the opponent’s voice in the political arena. This goes against all principles of fairness, equality, and democracy. There are numerous landmark cases supporting the rights of individuals, which give us hope the Supreme Court will decide favoring the rights of individuals."

This really is a thought provoking article and must reading for anyone who cares about free speech for all. I recommend it highly.