Boston, MA (April 7, 2015) – Several Massachusetts caregivers have filed an appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals after their lawsuit, which challenges a state law that forces home-based childcare providers to accept union monopoly bargaining, was dismissed in Massachusetts District Court.
Providers Kathleen D’Agostino, Denise Boian, Jean Demers, Judith Santos, Elizabeth Mongeon, Stephanie Kozlowski Heck, Leslie Marcyoniak, Laurie Smith, and Kelly Winship filed the appeal on Tuesday with free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The other providers seek to halt implementation of a 2012 law that designates Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509 as the monopoly bargaining agent for thousands of providers in the state, all of whom are either small business owners or family members who take care of relatives’ children.
With the help of Foundation attorneys, homecare providers have challenged similar forced unionization schemes in several states, including Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois. In 2014, Foundation attorneys won a landmark Supreme Court victory in Harris v. Quinn, which outlawed unions from collecting forced dues from home-based caregivers.
Even though the Supreme Court ruled against homecare unions’ forced-dues powers, union organizers have continued their efforts to push unwilling homecare providers into union ranks. Foundation attorneys argue that such schemes violate providers’ First Amendment right to choose with whom they associate to petition the government.
Under the Massachusetts scheme, SEIU Local 509 union officials are empowered to bargain on behalf of all care providers – even those who are not union members – over a small subsidy the providers receive from the state government.
«Citizens are the ones who should be deciding who represents them in the political sphere, not government officials or union bosses,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «Homecare unionization schemes like the one we’re challenging in Massachusetts are an affront to the principle of free association, which is why we’re helping these childcare providers stand up for their rights.”
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 more than 250 cases nationwide per year.
