In a 5-4 ruling the Supreme Courtdecided that public sector workers don't have to pay a so-called "fair share fee" to the unions that represent them.
It's a fee that non-union members pay for the services they receive as employees of a unionized workforce, however according to Justice Samuel Alito fees "violates the First Amendment and cannot continue." This decision also overrules a new Washington state law that automatically enrolls public sector employees in a union. Now new employees will have to "opt-in" to the union.
Rich Wood the communication organizer for theWashington Education Association and Erin Shannon from the Center for Workers' Rights at theWashington Policy Centerexplains the implications of this ruling.
