Why opting out of expressly paying for political union activities wasn't enough

"Workers can already opt-out of paying for expressly political union activities, but for the past 40 years, all workers have been compelled to pay agency fees to cover collective bargaining. This arrangement has always been unsatisfactory to many workers as collective bargaining itself often implicates a host of controversial policy issues.

Most obviously, collective bargaining profoundly affects city and state budgets. When union’s ask for raises and benefits (often with little apparent regard for a state’s financial situation), the result is often increased taxes and budget shortfalls. These are undoubtedly political issues that public employees can disagree about. And this alone was enough for the Court to conclude that collective bargaining is an inherently political action."

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