Supreme Court asked to reverse
1977 agency fee decision
In a development that was not unexpect-
ed, the National Right to Work Foundation
(NRTWF) recently filed a petition with the
U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overrule a
40-year-old decision which has allowed
public-sector unions, including PBAs, to
collect agency fees from non-members. We
anticipate that the Supreme Court will agree
to hear the case and, if it does so, will more
than likely reverse the 1977 decision which
held that it was constitutional for public
sector unions to collect agency fees.
As you may recall, in the April 2016 issue of NJ COPS Mag-
azine, we reported on a development concerning this issue.
In 2015, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Friedrichs
v. California Teachers Assn., in which the NRTWF sought to
reverse the Supreme Court’s 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit
Board of Education. In Abood, the Court held that it was con-
stitutional for public sector unions to collect agency fees un-
der state laws such as those in New Jersey’s PERC Act. At that
time, the Court was not at full strength because of the death of
Justice Antonin Scalia. In a decision issued on March 29, 2016,
10
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ JUNE 2017
the Court was deadlocked in a 4-4 vote,
which meant that the lower court decision
remained in place. The lower federal court
decision upheld the right of public-sector
unions to collect agency fees and reaffirmed
the validity of the Abood decision. We wrote
at that time that there were similar cases in
the federal court pipeline and that the Court
would look for another case in which to re-
visit the issue.
Not surprisingly, that issue is again be-
fore the Supreme Court. In Janus v. AFSC-
ME Council 31, a case arising out of Illinois, the lower federal
court denied the NRTWF’s invitation to reverse the Abood
decision and upheld the right to collect agency fees. The Su-
preme Court has now been asked to review that decision. I n
light of what happened with the Friedrichs case in 2016, we
expect that the Supreme Court will agree to hear the decision
and, with the new justice appointed to replace Justice Scalia,
will in all likelihood reverse the decision, if not by the end of
this year, then probably by this time next year.
The Court’s decision will affect all public-sector unions,