Janus v. AFSCME

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

It's been a difficult week of SCOTUS news, though of particular interest to us is the Janus v. AFSCME decision, which finds that public sector unions cannot collect non-member fees (agency fees) even though the collective bargaining of unions affects all workers. It's a move expected to drive down union membership nationwide. (The thinking goes: Why pay membership dues when you get the benefits of union activities anyways?) Some research complicates this basic assumption, but any way we look at it, the next few years will be a struggle. NPR goes into greater depth about expected nation-wide effects of this ruling.

Because Texas is a "Right to Work" state (a rhetorical turn of phrase detested by most labor-minded people; the labor caucus of the Conference on College Composition and Communication has suggested "Right to get Screwed" as a more apt descriptor), this decision will have little direct impact on our specific union. We have no rights to bargain collectively and the union has never collected agency fees.

The fact that we won't feel a direct effect doesn't mean that this won't affect us, though, as our colleagues in other states struggle to keep their membership up. Nationwide, unions are expected to have less funding and less power to stand up to movements that seek to chip away at public education -- from fighting for better funding to opposing privatization and vouchers.

Texas AFT president Louis Malfaro reminds us that now is a moment to win over the "court of public opinion" with reminders about the good that unions do for all workers. We've seen the way that unions of public teachers have won in the court of public opinion, and the effectiveness of their moves for collective action, especially in states like Texas where collective bargaining was never an option.


Steps for Action Now:

1. Follow the AFT on Facebook and/or Tweet and express your support for unions using hashtags #IamAFT, #JanusvsAFSCME #unionstrong, as well as handles: @AFTunion and @TexasAFT. See the AFT's tweet here for graphics you can use.

2. Support, campaign for, and then vote for people who support unions.

3. Sign the AFT's petition (if you haven't already) in support of public education.