SEA Faces Lawsuit for Illegal Forced Dues in NH

From American Digest:

By Christine Favocci

Democrats have long had a symbiotic relationship with labor unions as both gain power and influence from each other. Workers are forced to contribute to these unions and are the ones who lose out, but some New Hampshire employees are not about to take it.

Two state employees have sued to recoup dues they say were unlawfully confiscated by the union, the Washington Examiner reported. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is suing the State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire on the employees’ behalf. 

A 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision made confiscating the payments unlawful, overturning the so-called  “fair share” rule that imposed union fees on all public workers even if they didn’t want to join the union. The assertion was that unions bargained on behalf of all employees and required compensation regardless of their desire to join.

However, Patrick Doughty and Randy Severance were still forced to pay dues and have initiated a class-action lawsuit to obtain refunds for themselves and other employees who didn’t want to join but were forced to pay into it anyway. A lower court has rejected their petition, forcing them to bring it to the Supreme Court.

“Union bosses violated the rights of workers in New Hampshire and across the country for decades and now they must return a few years of those ill-gotten gains,” the foundation’s president Mark Mix said in a statement. “The Court should grant Doughty and Severance’s petition and make it clear that union bosses cannot simply pocket the proceeds of their unconstitutional forced dues scheme.”

Mix further noted that New Hampshire does not have a right-to-work law “that ensures union membership and financial support are voluntary, not coerced,” otherwise the lawsuit wouldn’t be necessary. “Had union dues been voluntary during the period covered in the lawsuit, union officials could not have seized forced fees from unwilling workers to begin with,” he said.

The New Hampshire State Legislature is mulling a right-to-work provision for private companies at this time. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu is expected to sign it as a pro-business measure if it passes.

If unions can confiscate money from all employees, their power becomes overwhelming and absolute. When they then funnel those funds to Democrats, workers are left with lighter paychecks as their money goes to support causes they don’t agree with.

Read more at American Digest here.