CWA Statement on the Supreme Court Agreeing to Hear Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association

Washington, D.C. -- Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association shows how extreme the assault on workers’ bargaining rights has become.  The Friedrichs case is an assault on public sector workers, financed by anti-worker and corporate education supporters. These groups have been working for years to stifle the voices of teachers and other public servants in the workplace and strip them of collective bargaining rights.

Labor law requires that a union must represent all workers in the bargaining unit. That’s why the “fair share” system makes sense. Workers who choose not to join the union that the majority has approved still benefit from the union representation. Under fair share, rather than free-ride, these workers who choose not to join may be required to pay their fair share of the costs of the representation from which they benefit. Friedrichs seeks to encourage free-riding by outlawing the fair share system for the public sector workforce, thereby making union representation more difficult to sustain.

The public sector workforce is predominantly female and benefits from the ability to bargain collectively.  The wealthy special interests behind this lawsuit want to make it harder for these workers to sustain union representation. 

We hope that the Supreme Court sees through this attack on workers’ rights and deals with the issues in the Friedrichs case fairly and promptly.