The union respondents in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association have now filed their brief as well, which is available here.
The respondents call for Abood v. Detroit Board of Education to “be reaffirmed because it correctly respects public employers’ prerogative to manage their workforces to ensure the efficient provision of public services to their citizens.” As did the California Attorney General in her brief, the unions focus on the state’s interests as an employer relative to employees’ First Amendment rights:
Drawing on private-sector employers’ experience and Congress’s legislative judgments, Abood properly recognized that the agency shop serves States’ strong interests in the orderly negotiation of terms and conditions of employment and resolution of employee grievances. A single representative is critical to avoid the confusion and burden of negotiating with multiple groups of workers with conflicting demands. When a union serves as exclusive representative, States have a vital interest in ensuring the fair allocation of the costs of that service to all employees.
Abood correctly held that the State’s interests as employer outweigh any interference with employees’ First Amendment rights. Abood fully accommodated non-members’ First Amendment interests by allowing non-members to opt out of contributing to unions’ political expenditures unrelated to collective bargaining. Agency-fee requirements impose no limits on employees’ right to speak against the union’s positions. Any compelled funding is ancillary to exclusive representation itself, the constitutionality of which is settled and unchallenged here.
The unions also invoke “[s]ettled stare decisis principles” in support of their request to reaffirm Abood:
Outlawing fair-share fees will override the judgments of 23 States plus the District of Columbia that have enacted statutory collective-bargaining frameworks covering public-education employees. It also will throw into disarray tens of thousands of collective-bargaining agreements governing millions of teachers, police officers, firefighters, first responders, and other public employees. The Abood framework is workable. This Court’s largely unanimous decisions have generated only limited disagreement over its implementation. The only two decisions to break from that pattern – Knox [v. SEIU] and Harris [v. Quinn] – involved contexts that did not directly implicate Abood (Knox) or did not involve the State’s interest in managing its workforce (Harris).
As for the opt-out question:
This Court’s well-settled opt-out framework for implementing Abood is properly tailored to the First Amendment’s core prohibition on coercion. It is also consistent with other well-established case law requiring individuals to invoke constitutional rights. Petitioners’ requested opt-in rule would vastly expand the First Amendment’s sweep and lead to unworkable and unnecessary intrusion into large swaths of government activity. If individuals genuinely object to unions’ political activities, they can readily fill out and mail in the simple, one-page opt-out form.
The full union respondents brief is available here. Petitioners’ brief, which was filed in September, is available here; their reply brief is due in mid-December, with oral argument to follow early next year.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
May 9
Philadelphia City Council unanimously passes the POWER Act; thousands of federal worker layoffs at the Department of Interior expected; the University of Oregon student workers union reach a tentative agreement, ending 10-day strike
May 8
Court upholds DOL farmworker protections; Fifth Circuit rejects Amazon appeal; NJTransit navigates negotiations and potential strike.
May 7
U.S. Department of Labor announces termination of mental health and child care benefits for its employees; SEIU pursues challenge of NLRB's 2020 joint employer rule in the D.C. Circuit; Columbia University lays off 180 researchers
May 6
HHS canceled a scheduled bargaining session with the FDA's largest workers union; members of 1199SEIU voted out longtime union president George Gresham in rare leadership upset.
May 5
Unemployment rates for Black women go up under Trump; NLRB argues Amazon lacks standing to challenge captive audience meeting rule; Teamsters use Wilcox's reinstatement orders to argue against injunction.
May 4
In today’s news and commentary, DOL pauses the 2024 gig worker rule, a coalition of unions, cities, and nonprofits sues to stop DOGE, and the Chicago Teachers Union reaches a remarkable deal. On May 1, the Department of Labor announced it would pause enforcement of the Biden Administration’s independent contractor classification rule. Under the January […]