The United States Supreme Court has announced that it will review a case challenging the right of labor organizations representing public employees to compel non-members to pay their fair share of the cost of negotiating and administering collective bargaining agreements covering the non-members. The case is Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. The lawsuit was filed by teachers in California who claimed that the requirement that they pay their fair share of the cost of negotiating and administering collective bargaining agreements violated their First Amendment Rights.
The Friedrichs case seeks to have the Court overrule Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, an earlier Supreme Court decision. If the challenge is successful it could have a significant impact on public sector labor unions.
The case will be heard during the Supreme Court’s next term, which begins in October.
