SCOTUS Deals MAJOR Blow To Unions

I’m going to put it out there… I hate unions.

Sure. At one point they were great. It was good that someone was advocating for factory-working 7-year-olds, you know? We want them to keep their fingers.

But now? They’re just machines that impede the free market.

I used to work with symphonies. Musicians’ Unions are KILLING symphonies. They demand money and benefits that SIMPLY DON’T EXIST. Many symphonies have had to shut down entirely because union demands make them entirely unsustainable. A union would rather a symphony shut down entirely than budge a little on their unrealistic demands. It’s absolutely ludicrous. They’d rather have a bunch of unemployed people than lose some of their days off and take a reasonable pay cut.

And while my experience with unions is a very specific one, their demanding, unrealistic attitude seems to be a norm accross industries.

SCOTUS just dealt them a MAJOR blow… and I couldn’t agree more.

According to Fox News:

In a major legal and political defeat for big labor, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that state government workers – whether they join the union or not – cannot be forced to pay so-called “fair share” fees to support collective bargaining and other union activities.

Which I find absolutely ABSURD.

These unions operate like freaking mafias.

The conservative majority said a union’s contract negotiations over pay and benefits were inextricably linked with its broader political activities, and concluded workers had a limited constitutional right not to underwrite such “speech.”

“This procedure violates the First Amendment and cannot continue,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “Neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a nonmember’s wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay.”

BOOM.

While the current case applies only to public sector employees, the political and financial stakes are potentially huge for the broader American labor union movement, which had been sounding the alarm about the legal fight.

The unions say 5 million government employees in 24 states and the District of Columbia would be affected by this ruling.

The majority overturned the high court’s four-decade old precedent dealing with so-called “agency” fees, allowing states to require public employees to pay money supporting collective bargaining and other union activities

Which I think is freaking CRIMINAL.

The key plaintiff was Mark Janus, an Illinois state employee, who pays about $550 annually to the powerful public-sector union known as AFSCME. While not a member of the union, he is required under state law to hand over a weekly portion of his paycheck — which he says is a violation of his constitutional rights.

“I work for Health and Family Services, and I’m forced to pay money to a union that then supports political causes that I don’t agree with,” Janus told Fox News.

Because UNIONS. I’m telling you, man…

President Trump cheered the decision on Twitter, writing: “Supreme Court rules in favor of non-union workers who are now, as an example, able to support a candidate of his or her choice without having those who control the Union deciding for them. Big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!”

Trump’s Justice Department has been clear on its position — announcing in December it was reversing course from the previous administration and supporting Janus.

In yet ANOTHER 5-4 decision, Justice Elena Kagan wrote the dissent for the court’s four liberals.

“Almost all economic and regulatory policy affects or touches speech,” she said. “So the [court] majority’s road runs long. And at every stop are black-robed rulers overriding citizens’ choices. The First Amendment was meant for better things. It was meant not to undermine but to protect democratic governance—including over the role of public-sector unions.”

That’s ridiculous. Unions should not be protected OVER individuals.

Anway, I think this is FANTASTIC.