Seventh Circuit Schedules March 1 Arguments In Lawsuit Challenging Mandatory Union Dues

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has scheduled oral arguments for March 1 in a case challenging mandatory union dues payable to AFSCME and the Teamsters Union, the two labor unions representing most state and local government workers in the United States. While labor unions representing private sector workers may collect the costs of collective bargaining even from non-members, these unions must separate collective bargaining dues from the fees assessed to members for lobbying activities of the union. Plaintiffs in the pending case argue that unions bargaining on behalf of government employees are by definition lobbying the government units they bargain with, and that therefore all AFSCME and Teamsters “dues” amount to lobbying costs, and cannot be assessed against non-members.

The case was originally brought by Governor Rauner in support of his executive order directing state agencies to stop withholding union dues from paychecks of employees who refused to join the unions. Three individual government employees were later added as plaintiffs, but the federal district court dismissed the complaint, and the employees appealed to the Seventh Circuit. The lawsuit is one small part of the Republican Party’s nation-wide assault against labor unions.