Why NorCo Workers Should Stay and Pay

Northampton County has three kinds of employees. First, there are "exempt" or confidential employees, those with whom the Executive can feel free to discuss policy. These are his cabinet and few other positions. Second, there are career service employees. They have no union protection and must rely on their own wits if they think they are being treated unfairly. Third, there are union employees, which make up about 75% of Northampton County's workforce. They are represented by 11 different bargaining units who negotiate and enforce contracts, and file grievances when an employee thinks he is being treated unfairly. Thanks to the Janus decision, these workers can no longer be forced to contribute to the union that represents them. But that is the worst decision they can make. It is better to stay and pay, and I'll explain why below.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision reversed over 40 years of established precedent. Writing for the Court, Justice Sam Alito ruled that public sector workers have a First Amendment right to refuse to help pay for their bargaining unit that negotiates and enforces their contracts. "As Jefferson famously put it, 'to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of
opinions which he disbelieves and abhor[s] is sinful and tyrannical.'”

The majority rules that free speech trumps everything, even the common good that is ensured by requiring nonunion members to pay their fair share.

Justice Elena Kagan, speaking for four dissenters, complained that the government is acting as an employer, not Sovereign, and needs to have some control over what employees say to be able to deliver services efficiently.

The majority overthrows a decision entrenched in this Nation’s law — and in its economic life — for over 40 years. As a result, it prevents the American people, acting through their state and local officials, from making important choices about workplace governance. And it does so by weaponizing the First Amendment, in a way that unleashes judges, now and in the future, to intervene in economic and regulatory policy.

The Janus decision is almost certainly a death blow for most of the 11 unions representing Northampton County workers. Bargaining units representing corrections officers, deputy sheriffs and nurses should stay strong because they have the right to demand arbitration during contract negotiations. But other bargaining units, like the residual unit, are in trouble. As Kagan explains in her dissent, this is what will happen to employees who are under no obligation to help pay for the union negotiating their contracts.

"Without a fair-share agreement, the class of union non-members spirals upward. Employees (including those who love the union) realize that they can get the same benefits even if they let their memberships expire. And as more and more stop paying dues, those left must take up the financial slack (and anyway, begin to feel like suckers) — so they too quit the union. ... And when the vicious cycle finally ends, chances are that the union will lack the resources to effectively perform the responsibilities of an exclusive representative — or, in the worst case, to perform them at all."

Based on what three members of the residual unit told me today, I think Kagan is right. Only one of these three was around in 2003, when employees organized after layoffs and going several years without a raise. This person supported stay and pay. A second  employee, who has only been with the county briefly, was opposed to paying a fair share long before Wednesday's decision. He complained that unions have always been a disaster for him.

The third employee at first told me he didn't care. But he did. He actually tracked me down later to say he is pro-union, "but this union needs to do a lot more and perhaps this will put their feet to the fire."

Let me explain what happens if they fail to pay and stay. First, the union might disappear. Second, the union might redefine the bargaining unit to exclude all those who refuse to pay fair share. In both of these cases, the employees will be re-classified as career service. What that means is that they'll be lucky to see a 2% raise every year, and their benefits will be subject to the whims of the Executive.

Free speech has consequences.

It is smarter to stay and pay.

By the way, the logic of the Alito decision means that fair share payments to private sector unions are in jeopardy because those are authorized by statute.

They're next.

U.S. Congressman Matt Cartwright introduced federal legislation yesterday that basically reaffirms the right to organize. He was highly critical of the Supreme Court.

“This is not jurisprudence, this is bare-knuckle politics,” Rep. Cartwright said. “I will always fight to maintain collective bargaining rights for hard-working Americans, including my constituents in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where union rights are a time-honored tradition. Strong public and private sector unions built the middle class in our country, and we should not turn back the clock on those struggling families.”

According to Rep. Cartwright, union members employed by a state government earn 17 percent more than their non-union counterparts, and union members employed by a local government earn 35 percent more than their non-union counterparts.

Erratum: I incorrectly reported that nurses have a right to compulsory arbitration. They have no such right.