California teachers suing to end mandatory union dues

[tangent4ronpaul]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/01/california-teachers-suing-to-end-mandatory-union-dues/?intcmp=trending

A group of California teachers is preparing for a Supreme Court battle to overturn forced union dues in a groundbreaking lawsuit filed in June.

For nearly three decades, the Supreme Court has allowed closed-shop unionism, in which public employees must pay dues to labor groups handling collective bargaining negotiations.

The Supreme Court established Beck Rights in 1988 allowing workers to opt out of union dues for political activities, while continuing to pay for union negotiating expenses. The teachers are hoping to take that battle one step further by putting an end to all coercive union dues.

Ten California schoolteachers are challenging California's policy of forcing all public employees to pay union dues for collective bargaining. The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) is aiding their suit. The CIR views the issue through the lens of the Constitution, rather than as a contest of labor policy.

"Our efforts are not anti-union; we are trying to solidify the First Amendment rights of public employees to freely assemble," CIR president Terry Pell said.

The plaintiffs filed a preliminary injunction on Tuesday asking the court to waive the teachers' union dues during the ongoing trial. Pell is certain the motion will fail, which is all the better for the plaintiffs because it will "fast-track" the litigation to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and eventually the Supreme Court.

-t

[Philhelm]

It wouldn't surprise me if they lose their jobs for their efforts. Back when I had considered teaching, it had irked me that people are forced to aid and abet the teacher's union.

[tod evans]

Is Kalifornia one of the states with a bankrupt pension fund?


[edit]

California Teacher Fund Needs $4.5 Billion Yearly Boost

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-20/california-teacher-fund-needs-4-5-billion-yearly-boost.html

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s $73 billion unfunded liability may be the state’s “most difficult fiscal challenge” and lawmakers should increase funding for the second-largest U.S. pension, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said.
Additional money from taxpayers, through higher contributions from the state and school districts, along with increases from employees probably will be needed, the analyst’s office said today in a report. Investment returns aren’t likely to be enough to close the gap, it said.
Pension costs for retired public employees are straining governments from California to Rhode Island. Calstrs, as the $161.4 billion system is known, has 66 percent of the assets needed to cover promises to current and future retirees, and will run out of money by 2044 unless changes are made, the analyst’s office said.
“Something needs to be done,” Ed Derman, the fund’s deputy chief executive officer, told lawmakers today. He said the unfunded liability grows $17 million a day.

[snip]

[Occam's Banana]

Is Kalifornia one of the states with a bankrupt pension fund?

Apparently. And my understanding is that Illinois and New York are in pretty dire straits, too.

[tod evans]

And these huge voting blocs expect rural America to carry their water................................Again.


Still.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Maryland's legislature raided their teachers pension fund, taking half and leaving a nice little IOU in it's place. It will never be paid off.

-t

[QuickZ06]

It wouldn't surprise me if they lose their jobs for their efforts. Back when I had considered teaching, it had irked me that people are forced to aid and abet the teacher's union.

Yeah I really wanted to be a teacher as well. But then I found out you don't really teach much just regurgitate government BS, bummer.