In Our View: Task Clear for Unions

The task is clear, yet difficult: Public-employee unions must demonstrate to workers the benefits of union representation and the power of collective bargaining.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that public employees cannot be compelled to pay union dues, even if they reap the benefits of union representation. The decision is a clear victory for conservatives who long have opposed public unions, and it sharply alters the dynamic of public-sector unions.

Union membership in the private sector has dropped precipitously in recent decades, leaving public-employee unions as the most important bastion of collective representation. In overturning a 1977 Supreme Court decision, the ruling sided with the free-speech argument that employees should not be forced to support unions whose positions they might not agree with. Representing the minority in the 5-4 decision, Justice Elena Kagan warned that the decision was “weaponizing the First Amendment in a way that unleashes judges, now and in the future, to intervene in economic and regulatory policy.”

While we can understand arguments on both sides of the issue, it is disconcerting that the court would brazenly overturn four decades of precedent. That being said, it is now incumbent upon public unions to make their case in the marketplace of ideas and convince employees of the benefits provided by collective bargaining.

In this state, the Washington Federation of State Employees is the largest state-employee union, representing about 44,000 workers. Officials say 5,000 of those employees previously have opted out of union membership; now, workers will be required to actively opt in, rather than have union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks. Locally, for one example, the Vancouver Education Association represents about 1,650 members. “It’s a significant decision,” executive director Rick Wilson said of the Janus ruling. “It’s not going to change what we’re going to try to do for our members, which is be a strong advocate for them.”

Since the second half of the 19th century, labor unions have played an essential role in creating the middle class that made the United States the world’s greatest economic engine. Unions were crucial to the establishment of a five-day work week, limits on child labor, improvements to workplace safety, increased wages and benefits, and employer-provided health care. More recently, labor unions led a push that resulted in the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act. Those victories have been codified in law and have benefited all Americans.

Now, with wages having stagnated in many sectors and with conservatives repeatedly working to diminish the power of unions, labor supporters are well positioned to make a sales pitch about the importance of organizing. As state Rep. Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver, a member of the Washington Education Association said, “A lot of people working in a school setting don’t necessarily recognize what their union does for them until they need them.”

Since the Janus ruling, it is more essential for union representatives to get that message to employees. Preserving and strengthening unions will require a wise political strategy and consistent information about the benefits provided by collective bargaining. While the recent Supreme Court decision does not mark the end of public-employee unions, it does change the landscape, leaving union supporters with a clear task.