Lawsuit was filed by nonunion care providers who are forced to accept union bargaining over their caregiving practices

Boston, MA (January 5, 2016) – Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit will hear a lawsuit brought by Kathleen D’Agostino and eight other caregivers challenging a law that requires all Massachusetts family childcare providers to accept union “representation” over their caregiving practices. The nine plaintiffs are receiving free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation.

D’Agostino and her co-plaintiffs seek to halt implementation of a state law that designates SEIU Local 509 as the exclusive bargaining agent for thousands of Massachusetts homecare providers, including many who have no interest in joining or associating with the union. The current arrangement allows union officials to negotiate over providers’ caregiving practices and the subsidies low-income families receive from the state for childcare-related expenses. The providers are either small business owners or family members caring for relatives’ children.

Foundation attorneys argue that this arrangement violates the providers’ First Amendment right to choose with whom they associate to petition their government by foisting union bargaining on those who have interest in joining or supporting the SEIU.

The providers’ lawsuit builds on the Foundation’s 2014 Supreme Court victory in Harris v. Quinn, which outlawed the collection of mandatory union dues from home-based caregivers. Prior to that decision, Massachusetts law empowered union officials to collect forced dues from all home childcare providers. Foundation attorneys contend that the Harris precedent suggests that caregivers should also be free from the burden of accepting an unwanted union’s bargaining.

Foundation staff attorneys are helping home and childcare providers challenge similar schemes in Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Oregon, and Washington State.

“Massachusetts childcare providers should not be forced to associate with a union they do not belong to or support,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We hope the Court of Appeals will build on the National Right to Work Foundation’s landmark Supreme Court victory in Harris v. Quinn to protect the rights of nonunion caregivers.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.