Importance of the Janus Case for Educators

The 74million.org has included the Janus case in its 12 Important Education Storylines We’ll All Be Reading About in 2018.  Carolyn Phenicie has the story.

Building on the 2014 Harris v. Quinn case, brought by National Right to work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys, and the 2016 Friedrichs v. CTA case, supporters are cautiously optimistic about the outcome of Janus.

The Supreme Court on Feb. 26 will hear Janus v. AFSCME, the third case in recent years that asks the justices to consider whether forcing public employees, like teachers, to pay union dues violates their First Amendment rights. Unions say that fees some workers pay (dues, minus funds for political activity) prevents “freeriding” employees from benefiting from union-negotiated contracts without paying their fair share and makes it easier for governments to negotiate with one representative of all employees. Those opposed to so-called agency fees say that even standard bargaining issues, like salary and layoff policy, are inherently political and that forcing employees to support unions is unfair