March 16, 2015
By LaborPress
The day after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill outlawing the union shop, the state AFL-CIO and local branches of the Machinists and Steelworkers sued him to stop it from going into effect.
The suit, filed March 10 in state court in Madison, argues that the law violates the Fifth Amendment’s “takings clause,” that private property shall not be taken for public use “without just compensation.” Because federal law requires unions to represent all employees in a workplace, but the newly enacted law prohibits them from collecting dues or fees from nonmembers, the unions claim that they are being forced to provide their services for nothing. The Indiana Supreme Court rejected a similar suit last November, but one in Michigan is still pending. Read more
