The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a union's cost of collective bargaining cannot be recouped by issuing required fees from thousands of Illinois home health care workers, the Associated Press reported. The verdict, however, was limited to "partial-public employees" and stopped short of overturning decades of practice generally allowing public sector unions of teachers, firefighters and other government workers to pass on their representation costs to non-members.
In a 5-4 split along ideological lines in Harris v. Quinn, the justices said the practice violates the First Amendment rights of non-members who object to being affiliated with a union and disagree with the positions unions occasionally take. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court, stated that home care workers "are different from full-fledged public employees" because they do not have most of the rights and benefits of state employees and work primarily for their disabled or elderly customers. Additionally, private sector workers will not be affected by the ruling as well.
For decades, the law has allowed unions to collect dues from all private or public employees they are required to represent. But Monday's ruling will now see labor unions, which have increased their memberships and their revenues by signing up hundreds of thousands of in-home care workers in Illinois and other states, possibly face an exodus of members who will have little incentive to pay dues.
The case, which has been hanging around since late January, involves about 26,000 Illinois workers who get paid with state-administered Medicaid funds for their home care services of disabled people. "In 2003, the state passed a measure deeming the workers state employees eligible for collective bargaining," according to the AP. "A majority of the workers then selected the Service Employees International Union to negotiate with the state to increase wages, improve health benefits and set up training programs. Those workers who chose not to join the union had to pay proportional 'fair share' fees to cover collective bargaining and other administration costs."
Arguing the fees violated the First Amendment, a group of workers, led by Pamela Harris, a home health aide who cares for her disabled son at home, and backed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, claimed it was unfair to make someone pay fees to a group that takes positions the fee-payer disagrees with.
Attorneys associated with the home-care workers hailed the decision, even though it didn't go as far as they wanted by applying to all state workers. "This ruling issues a stern warning to public employee unions that when they started unionizing moms and dads taking care of their kids, they went too far," said Paul Kersey, director of labor policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.
Harris issued a statement through the National Right to Work Foundation praising the decision. "Families in Illinois can relax knowing their homes are safe from being a union workplace and there will be no third party intruding into the care we provide our disabled sons and daughters."
