Michigan teachers can resign from union any time, judge rules

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11. That's irrelevant

Last edited Fri Sep 5, 2014, 12:22 PM - Edit history (1)

If a school district wishes to negotiate separate contracts with non-union members it can. It's just a bit of a hassle for potential employees and the district, so they just use the contract the union negotiated.

While it is impossible to prove this is not a First Amendment issue (can't prove a negative yada-yada), it is a simple matter to prove this absolutely is a First Amendment issue. You are saying that an outside group should have the right to force a government department to treat a person as a second-class citizen with fewer rights and benefits unless that person joins the outside group.

The union has a responsibility to make their group attractive enough to keep their membership numbers up, rather than trying to threaten people into joining, or using extortion to keep them in the group.

Again, I understand that unions want this power to increase their influence (which is often a good thing), but denying them this power reinforces a Constitutional precedent that protects us from having to join or leave groups.