Major Union Feels Sting of SCOTUS

From the point of view of union bosses, who now will no longer have free access to workers’ wallets:  

The Daily Caller Online, June 22, 2012    

Having already experienced a continuous string of political setbacks at the state level, one of the nation’s largest unions was jolted again Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of non-union workers who objected to paying fees for union political activities without notice.

Union delegates and officers who spoke with The Daily Caller at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) 40th International Convention in Los Angeles acknowledged that the ruling could greatly diminish their ability to finance political activism. The case, which was initiated by eight California civil servants, affects roughly 36,000 state government employees, according to court documents.

AFSCME encompasses 3,500 local unions representing 1.4 million members who work in public service and health care.

“The case itself is a result of a special political assessment charged by the SEIU to their members to pay for their campaign opposing sweeping reforms proposed by Gov. [Arnold] Schwarzenegger at the outset of his administration to bring the states costs under control,†Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government (ALG), observed.

“The forced fees succeeded in not only denying their members their rights, but had the impact through their use of putting tens of thousands of workers jobs in jeopardy as a result of the now intractable $18 billion deficit the state faces.â€

James Tierney, president of AFSCME Local 2384 in Arizona. . . noted,  “I would say that we need to think very carefully about how we allocate our funding. We have Republican members who don’t support a far left agenda, but they do support the union.â€