Earlier today, counsel for petitioners filed their opening brief in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.
According to petitioners, fair-share arrangements create a “regime of compelled political speech [that] is irreconcilable with [the Supreme] Court’s decisions in every related First Amendment context, as well as its recent recognition of ‘the critical First Amendment rights at stake’ in such arrangements” (citing Knox v. SEIU). They further contend that “[t]he logic and reasoning of this Court’s decisions [in Knox and Harris v. Quinn] have shattered the legal foundation of its approval of such compulsion in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education — a decision that was questionable from the start, as Justice Powell argued persuasively in his separate opinion.” Accordingly, petitioners urge the Court to “discard” Abood as a “jurisprudential outlier.”
Petitioners also ask the Court — “[r]egardless of whether [it] overrules Abood” — to “require that public employees affirmatively consent before their money is used to fund concededly political speech by public-sector unions.” Petitioners claim that the “Court’s longstanding refusal to ‘presume acquiescence in the loss of fundamental rights’ requires affirmative consent” (citing Knox).
Again, the full brief is available here. The case will likely be heard “early next year.”
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
July 26
Prop 22 survives; video game workers take action; NLRB challenged.
July 25
Disney union reaches tentative agreement, FAA agrees to improve worker conditions, and Olympic dancers drop strike notice.
July 24
Unions demand end to military aid for Israel; UAW and Teamsters hold out on Harris endorsement; Judge declines to block FTC ban on non-competes
July 23
NLRB drops appeal of a district court case striking down its joint employer rule; red states challenge EEOC’s pregnancy rule; and the WNBA players’ union taps advisors.
July 22
Unions respond to Biden's exit, many back Harris.
July 19
The Bronx Defenders Union announces a tentative collective bargaining agreement; Amazon workers continue a strike in Skokie; Bangladesh students continue protests over government job quotas.