PRESS RELEASE
June 25, 2003
Contact: Marsha
Richards, Communications Director, EFF
(360) 956-3482 – office
TACOMA—In a stunning blow to teachers and other union
workers, Washington’s Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the state
law prohibiting unauthorized use of non-member union fees for politics
is unconstitutional.
The case was on appeal after the Washington Education Association
(WEA) was sued by the state Attorney
General (AG) and found guilty in July 2001 of willfully violating
RCW 42.17.760, which prohibits the union from using fees taken from non-member
teachers to advance political causes without permission from those teachers.
The WEA was ordered to pay $570,000 dollars in fines and penalties and
return nearly $200,000 to teachers.
The Court of Appeals ruling guts part of campaign finance
Initiative 134, which was approved by 72 percent of Washington’s
voters in 1992, and overturns a Thurston County Superior Court ruling.
Attorneys for the WEA argued that money taken from teachers’
paychecks belongs to the union and any attempts to limit their unauthorized
use of teachers’ money is an abridgement of the union’s free
speech rights. The union has also successfully argued in court that it
has "no
fiduciary duty" to its members.
By contrast, the Attorney General’s office focused
on the free speech rights of teachers, arguing that the union’s practice
of spending teachers’ money on politics without their consent amounts
to "forced political speech."
"Today’s ruling turns the First Amendment on its
head," said Bob Williams, president of the Olympia-based Evergreen
Freedom Foundation. "The Court of Appeals has redefined free speech
to mean the right of union officials to usurp teachers and speak at their
expense."
The Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a long-time advocate for
free speech and fair elections, filed the original complaint against the
WEA that sparked the Attorney General’s case.
"We strongly urge the Attorney General to appeal this
decision to the Supreme Court on behalf of every teacher and every citizen
in this state," said Williams.
RCW 42.17.760 - Agency shop fees as contributions
A labor organization may not use agency shop fees paid by an individual
who is not a member of the organization to make contributions or expenditures
to influence an election or to operate a political committee, unless affirmatively
authorized by the individual.
|
Evergreen Freedom Foundation
P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507
Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874
Email: effwa@effwa.org |
