Monday, August 05, 2019

The Janus Decision Is The Law of the Land, and Unions and Districts Drag Their Feet At Their Own Peril

I've written previously about cases in which teachers unions, in direct contravention of the Janus decision, continued to take dues money from teachers who had resigned.  Courts are having none of it, even here in California:
Last August, Ventura County Community College District math professor Michael McCain notified his union, the American Federation of Teachers, that he wanted to drop his membership and stop paying dues. Both the school and the union denied McCain’s request, claiming there was a specific “window” of time by which employees could drop their union membership...

In January of this year, McCain sued both the school and the union in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claiming these mandatory fees are now unconstitutional. The class-action lawsuit was joined by other teachers.

Last week, community college district officials and the teachers union settled with McCain. According to a copy of the settlement obtained by The College Fix, the school and union have been ordered to “fully and unconditionally” refund fees paid by McCain and other faculty members who requested their fees be discontinued after the Janus decision. The fees will be repaid with interest.

The college and union also promised to scrap any rule setting up a time window in which employees may exercise their constitutional rights, according to the settlement.
 
Neither the Ventura County Community College District nor the American Federation of Teachers Local 1828 responded to requests by The College Fix to comment for this story.

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