NJ and IL Teachers Sue Union Officials Over “Escape Period” Scheme
Four teachers are taking union officials to the Supreme Court because their so-called “escape period” doesn’t properly give workers their right to choose whether or not to be part of the union. This scheme essentially handcuffs them to these unions for 355 days a year and for 356 during leap years.
The “escape period” is inherently unjust because it prevents teachers from quitting and stopping dues deduction to a union when they decide the union officers are not representing them or for any other reason. This scheme is commonly used by union gives for teachers to be able to leave the unions to prevent any members from leaving. This particular “escape period” gives teachers only 10 days in August, while teachers are on their breaks and not thinking about work, to leave the union. Teachers are often not being properly informed, they are left with no choice but to pay union dues or be fired, and wait until next August for the next chance to escape. This tiny window of escape ignores the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME ruling that public sector workers should not be forced to join a union and pay dues to keep their job.
These teachers, Joanne Troesch and Ifeoma Nkemdi from Chicago and Susan Fischer and Jeanette Speck from New Jersey are getting free legal support from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
In Save Jersey, National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix is quoted:
“Escape periods’ like those forced on Troesch, Nkemdi, Fischer, and Speck serve no purpose other than to keep the hard-earned cash of public servants who oppose union officials’ so-called ‘representation’ flowing into union coffers even after those employees have clearly exercised their First Amendment right to object to such payments […]
“With opposition to these schemes growing among public employees, the Supreme Court must quickly take up this issue and clarify that Janus does not permit union bosses to profit from curtailing workers’ constitutional rights.”
If you have questions about whether union officials are violating your rights, contact the Foundation for free help. To take action by supporting us and fueling the fight against Forced Unionism, click here to donate now.