AP: Public unions see only modest decline after court ruling
By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press
Published: July 12, 2019, 8:56am
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FILE - In this Monday, July 25, 2016, file photo, Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers, speaks as Lee Saunders, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, applauds during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Union membership among public employees has fallen only slightly in the nation’s most unionized states since the Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that government workers no longer could be required to pay union fees, according to an analysis of federal data conducted for The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File) Photo Gallery
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Anticipating that the U.S. Supreme Court might end mandatory union fees for public employees, some labor-friendly states enacted laws last year to protect membership rolls while unions redoubled their recruitment efforts.
Those steps appear to have paid off, at least initially.
Union membership among public employees has fallen only slightly in the nation’s most unionized states since the Supreme Court ruled a year ago that government workers no longer could be required to pay union fees, according to an analysis of federal data conducted for The Associated Press.
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