Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court Janus decision made one year ago today, more Americans will celebrate Independence Day with their freedom of association rights guaranteed.  In Janus v. AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees), the Court affirmed that government employees could not be compelled to join a union or pay fees to a union as a condition of employment.  For decades, government workers were told they either had to join a union or pay fees amounting to 80 to 90 percent of dues for the privilege of opting out. Using their political clout, labor unions not only were able to get government to collect their dues directly from worker’s paychecks, but they also got state and local governments to force employees to join. 

In Illinois, a social worker named Mark Janus refused to go along with this scheme.  He didn’t agree with the political priorities of the union mandated by his state.  He saw that they were lobbying for spending and tax priorities that he felt would harm the most vulnerable and were bad for his state.   He was told repeatedly that he either had to join and pay dues or not join and pay fees.  He felt that being compelled by government to give to a private organization to use his money for political priorities he disagreed with was fundamentally un-American and unconstitutional.  Ultimately, he went to court. 

The U.S. Supreme Court heard Mark Janus’ case and his argument that what these unions do is intrinsically political.  They seek to set tax policy, spending priorities, hiring and firing practices – basically the biggest issues debated in legislative halls.  Ultimately, the Court agreed and ruled in Janus’ favor.  On June 27, 2018 Mark Janus’ long battle for his First Amendment Rights was won—and it was won for workers across the country.

Every state, county, city or other government employee now has the right to opt-out of union membership. And they cannot be forced to pay fees simply for exercising this right.  The victory was momentous, and it means government unions will have to earn their membership and the dues they collect.  No longer will their political priorities be bolstered by confiscating money from unwilling members.

The choice of membership now belongs to the individual—exactly where it should. Unfortunately, those organizations that have so long profited from collecting money by force and the politicians they support continue to come up with ways to subvert these hard-fought rights. Here in Washington state, workers’ Janus rights are under direct attack in numerous ways.

So while we must maintain our vigilance and fight back against these efforts to subvert worker choice, we can also celebrate.

Because this Independence Day – thanks to a mild-mannered social worker from Illinois who refused to back down—millions of government workers, both union and non-union, are empowered with the freedom to choose.