In our earlier history, whether someone wanted to join a union or not was an individual decision, but starting in the New Deal, unionization was made a matter of collective decision. If a majority wanted a union, everyone had to accept it. Pro-union laws (like the Taylor Law) gave them the power of exclusive representation, meaning that disaffected workers couldn’t represent themselves or form a different union. This is an attack on individual liberty to boost the power of an interest group.
These labor laws exist at the federal level and many states have their own. New York is among them, and its Taylor Law includes faculty at public colleges and universities. At the City University of New York (CUNY), the faculty union (“Professional Staff Congress”) represents all faculty members, and a number of them are quite unhappy about it, especially because the union involves itself in politics, taking positions the professors abhor. They have sued to break free of union domination, and in today’s Martin Center article, I write about the case.
The lead plaintiff is Jewish mathematics professor Avraham Goldstein. He vehemently objects to the union’s constant meddling in matters having nothing to do with working conditions at the university. In particular, the union opposes Israel. Goldstein doesn’t want anything to do with the union’s political stance.
In 2018, the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Janus case held that workers in public-sector unions can’t be compelled to pay for unions they don’t want, but this case seeks to take worker freedom all the way, allowing them to sever all connection with an unwanted union.
At the first stage of the litigation fo this current case, the Obama-appointed judge dismissed the case on a clear misreading of a different and irrelevant Supreme Court precedent. It is now on appeal to the Second Circuit and will most likely wind up before the Supreme Court.
For many years, unions have gained power, but that’s now waning. This case could hasten the day when workers are again free to decide for themselves on the question of unionization.