Teachers File Class-Action Lawsuit against Union’s Mandatory Membership and Forced Dues Policies
Union operatives blocked members’ resignations, illegally imposed mandatory collective bargaining
Louisville, Kentucky (September 23, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, several Jefferson County educators have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against local and national teacher unions for a series of schemes designed to force unwilling educators into full-dues paying union membership.
The lawsuit alleges that union officials routinely blocked membership resignations for years at a time, automatically enrolled new teachers in the union without their consent, and used a collective bargaining scheme to force county teachers to pay union dues.
The teachers’ lawsuit, filed against the Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA) union and its national affiliate, the National Education Association (NEA), in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, seeks the return of illegally seized dues, a modification of the union’s contract to allow employees to resign from union membership at any time, and a regular notice from the union that informs public school employees of their right to refrain from membership.
The NEA is also named in the teachers’ suit because it encouraged JCTA officials to continue to block resignation attempts despite the concerns of local educators. Foundation attorneys believe that this lawsuit has the potential to deter similar NEA practices across the country by setting a favorable precedent under the First Amendment guaranteeing the right of teachers to resign from union membership at any time.
Currently, teachers employed in Jefferson County are automatically enrolled as union members and forced to pay union dues unless they explicitly register an objection to JCTA union officials. Moreover, teachers are only permitted to resign from formal union membership during a ten day-window period after an individual teacher’s contract is signed or after the union hierarchy agrees to a new contract with the local school board. If a teacher fails to register an objection to union membership within either period, he or she is forced to remain a union member until the expiration of the union’s five-year contract with the local school board. Many teachers report that JCTA officials never informed them of their right to refrain from joining the union in the first place.
Foundation attorneys believe that any collective bargaining agreement that forces educators to pay union dues to keep their jobs is illegal under state law. Moreover, the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Abood v. Detroit Board of Education ensures that teachers and other public employees have the right to resign from union membership. Retaliation or discrimination against employees for deciding against belonging to a union is also illegal.
“The JCTA’s illegal policy has allowed union officials to hold teachers hostage for far too long,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “While we’re confident that the Foundation’s lawsuit will be successful, the best way to prevent future abuse of this nature is for Kentucky to adopt a Right to Work law. Doing so would make union membership and dues-payment strictly voluntary.”
Comments
Jefferson County Public Schools Teacher Union.
I would like to know if there is a way I can become involved in this lawsuit? This Union was dreadful and I had a horrific experience and had to hire private atty's for things the Union should have been outraged over. I was teacher number 11 in 5 years in a room where the principal was out for "gall surgery" for 11 weeks and when she came back said "I heard you were doing a great job, well we will just have to see about that"....
jcta
Why I am furious at JCTA and the Jefferson County Board of Education. I am outraged that I am being required to give money to an organization that I do not feel represents me and I do not want to belong to. Below is a list of several of the reasons that I feel this way:
I am have been an art teacher for 32+ years. When I came into this system, Jefferson County had a very strong arts program taught by certified arts teachers. It was a quality program with quality teachers. At that time I belonged to JCTA. Over the years the arts programs were diminished and at current time are in a sad state. Many schools do not even offer these programs, instead they are covered by an Arts and Humanities umbrella which is taught by anyone who gets stuck with it. I am a firm believer that the arts teach problem solving in which there is more than one correct answer to the problem. They foster thinking skills as well as creativity. JCTA has done nothing to help this situation. I have been in meetings and heard representatives say that it’s just not a large enough group to worry about.
The itinerant situation in the elementary schools is a nightmare for the kids and the teachers. It has always been a bad situation with teachers having to constantly move around, teach from a cart, and see kids for a very small amount of time. Once again, no support from JCTA.
During my lengthy teaching career I have witnessed terrible teachers (the publics worst nightmares) receive support from JCTA and I have witnessed terrific teachers get a really bad deal from a poor administrator, only to have JCTA not vigorously stand up for them. I know of two who left the teaching profession as a result. The mutual agreement between the Board and JCTA which led to this current “Fair Share” garbage is a result of JCTA defending teachers who probably were in the wrong.
Over the years as a member of JCTA I asked repeatedly why there was no accounting as to where and how the money from all of the dues was spent. I have never seen an organization take in this much money and not provide a yearly account of where the money goes. Does it go to conventions, JCTA salaries, etc? I think the members have a right to know.
I recently read that JCTA has agreed to have every teacher in the system keep an on line planning book starting next year. So much for individuality. Cookie cutter formats do not work for everyone and I always thought the planning should be in a format that works for my students and for me. The online grading is great for some, but a nightmare for others. The itinerant teachers are going to be putting one 600+ grades every six weeks. Scrolling through all of that stuff is not easy. Technology is great when it works and is useful to the person using it. Otherwise it is a pain. Thanks again JCTA.
Last year I went through a nightmare with JCTA. After signing at least 3 different waiver forms, messages from the Board sent to JCTA telling them to remove me from their lists and numerous unproductive phone calls, I had to hire an attorney to get JCTA to stop taking dues from me. Someone had made a mistake (not me) and incorrectly gotten me on the JCTA roster. Even with an attorney, they still refused to pay me back everything they took from me.
I am currently retired and working part time. The state allows me to make more money than Jefferson County agrees to pay me. Does JCTA represent me and that issue at the infamous bargaining sessions? I don’t think so.
Why am I required to pay full time dues when I only work part time?
To wrap this up, I don’t feel that JCTA represents me or my interests and I resent being forced to give them money. To put it plainly I think JCTA sucks!
JCTA
I'm not a teacher, but from what I read, it sounds like JCTA really sucks! Good luck in lawsuit.