In an extremely rare move, the United States Supreme Court today has smacked down (.pdf) the U.S. Solicitor General after he tried to force his way into the October 6 oral arguments in the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation's upcoming Locke v. Karass case involving forced union dues.
Bush's SG (Paul Clement and now Gregory Garre) had, apparently at the behest of the U.S. Department of Labor, previously filed an amicus brief which supported organized labor's legal position in key ways. In fact, SEIU union lawyers cited the government's brief 14 times in their own brief. As Foundation attorneys pointed out in their response, the federal government had no business even getting involved in this case, because no federal statute or federal interest is involved.
It is extremely unusual for the Solicitor General (often referred to as the Tenth Justice) to be turned down when requesting oral argument time.
This is a well-deserved slap in the face for the Solicitor General's office and the Solicitor of Labor. They should be spending their time energy enforcing employees' rights, rather than trying to tear them down.
The Bush administration should now do the right thing and withdraw its outrageous legal brief immediately, as previously demanded (.pdf) by Foundation president Mark Mix.
Comments
Unions deny free speech unless it suits them
I was glad to read that the Supreme Court rejected the Solictor Generals intended interference into the Right to Work Foundations legal case about to come before them.
An outsider would never really know the value of what this organization is doing for people. If anyone has ever been on the brunt end of a unions threats or intimidation, only they know what fighting against them truly means. You have a right to refrain from full union membership in non right to work states. Few people know that.
In many contracts it still states that "it is a condition of employment that you join, and remain a member in good standing with the union". That language makes the average worker believe that he or she has no choice and must join the union. Very few realize they have the right to refrain and also object to union dues being used for anything that isn't germane to collective bargaining, grievance adjustment and contract administration.
Unions want you to have their beliefs. Express your own and, as a member of the union, you could be called down into the union hall and fined money for speaking out against the union. I have personal experience with the unions intimidation tactics. I resigned my union membership with the help of the Right To Work Foundation, 10 years ago and have never once regretted my decision.
Even after my National Labor Relations Board posting at work, the union has failed to tell new employee's that they also have the right to refrain and are forced to join without knowing their rights. This statement can be proven. I urge the Supreme Court to mandate unions enforce Foundation won precedent setting rulings and inform people of their ENTIRE rights.
Free Speech is something that many died for. I hardly think it's worth giving up to tow the unions line and step back decades just to avoid their wrath.
Let's hope the Supreme Court has indeed heard enough and decides once and for all to set a lot of issues straight and defined so that more workers indeed not only know their rights but are free to choose, without intimidation.
Unions spend millions of dollars, printing political literature that tells you who to vote for President of the United States. You have a choice, democrat or republican. Too bad they don't print up a choice on your employment card. Join or not join. They won't spend millions of dollars to tell you which line to check on that !
Been there, done that.
Been there, done that.
Bush should hang his head in shame
The problem with the Republican party in 2008 , and the reason they will lose in November, is that they forgot who they are. The Republicans are now trying to be Democrat-lite. Bush backs creating a new terror state in the middle east, our labor department backs unions (which NRTWLDF courageously fought-CONGRATS), McCain is a global warmist, and Palin touts her husband as a union member proudly. They don't get it.
At least the Dems know that they stand for; socialism, class warfare, identity politics, suppressing worker rights with the employee free choice act, appeasement of Islamists and Putin, but hey give them credit, at least they don't suffer and identity crisis like the Republicans.
Victory will go to those with true conviction, even if their conviction is totally wrong. A very sad state of affairs.
Thank you for this good news
Greetings from Maine!
Thank you for this good news on a Friday afternoon. Although I'm glad the Court took this action, this battle against forced unionism is far from over. We must continue to stand strong and fight the puppet masters at organizations like SEIU, else they will take over.
Forced unionism is wrong, but the additional lack of detailed fiscal accountability deserves an investigation. It’s time these labor unions (a.k.a., PACs) are held accountable for their lack of accountability! They are supposed to meet the “burden of proof” that the expenses were of a “chargeable nature,” but the lop-sided process used by the Maine union (MSEA-SEIU Local 1989) is anything but fair and impartial.
Needless to say, it’s time for the truth to be exposed about what’s really happening with the forced unionism campaign, and their extremely inaccurate/fraudulent fee calculation process. It’s only a matter of time…justice will be served.