For some three decades, a series of court rulings have established a basic principle: Unions, whether in the private or the public sector, may not route dues collections toward political purposes against their members’ will. The U.S. Supreme Court last June defended that principle for public-sector employees. By a unanimous vote, the court restored Washington State’s “paycheck protection” law, concluding that the state affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA) had to obtain advance written consent from fee-paying nonunion teachers before spending their payments on political causes. The High Court is due to have its hands full in a similar case next door in Idaho. On March 31, the Court agreed to hear Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association, an appeal of a federal circuit court ruling.
