While everyone is talking about the huge victory for worker rights with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, it is worth remembering that another brave public employee blazed the trail for Mark Janus’ landmark case against forced unionization.

Rebecca Friedrichs is a public school teacher from California who spent nearly three decades battling the politics and policies of the union she was forced to pay to represent her.    

Tired of her union’s uncompromising policies that hurt children and teachers, in 2013 Rebecca became the lead plaintiff in a case challenging the forced unionization of public school teachers.  Her case, Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association, was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016, and most constitutional experts, legal pundits, and even the media, agreed the Court was poised to render the forced unionization of public school teachers and other public employees unconstitutional.  

In a plot twist no one could have predicted, Rebecca’s case went unresolved after Justice Scalia unexpectedly passed away just one month after oral arguments.  The Court deadlocked in a 4-4 decision that set no precedential value and allowed unions to continue with business as usual.

The Court’s ruling, and subsequent refusal to reconsider her case, was a disappointing blow in the fight for worker freedom, but Rebecca’s case paved the way for Mark Janus’ game-changing case reviving her legal challenge to the forced unionization of public workers.

Rebecca’s fight didn’t end with the Court’s ruling in her case.  Since then she’s been crisscrossing the country telling her story and spreading her message of worker freedom.  She has launched a new grassroots movement to shine an insider’s spotlight on the union’s alarming influence in our public schools and empower teachers, parents, and students who want freedom from that corrosive influence. Her website, ForKidsAndCountry.org is a one stop shop for teachers and parents who want to learn ways they can help end the union-dominated culture in our public education system.

If you want to learn more about how Rebecca went from a teacher who simply wanted to educate children, to the lead plaintiff in one of the most important legal cases of our time, and stories of other public school teachers who are standing up to the teacher’s union, be sure to order a copy of her new book, “Standing Up to Goliath: Battling State and National Teachers' Unions for the Heart and Soul of Our Kids and Country.”  The publication date is November 20, but it’s available now for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

“I wrote it to expose (through personal testimonies) the abuse parents, teachers and students are suffering at the hands of teachers’ unions.

 

I’m hoping to change the national narrative around unions and bring together teachers, parents, students, citizens and policy makers to restore our schools and country. The only reason our schools are failing and children are being damaged is because teachers’ unions are ruling in our schools and the voices of parents, teachers, and students have been silenced.”

Rebecca’s story is compelling—a teacher who just wanted to provide the best education for kids was bullied by the labor union she was forced to pay to represent her.  And she says she has heard from thousands of teachers who agree with her but are too afraid to speak out—intimidation and public castigation is how the union keeps its members in check.

Hopefully the Janus ruling, along with Rebecca’s For Kids and Country movement and her book, will help more teachers stand up to Goliath.