Supreme Court to Consider Class-Action Challenge of SEIU Political Fee Tuesday

Court to review Ninth Circuit decision requiring California state employees to contribute to union political fund

Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, January 10, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a class-action lawsuit initiated by eight California civil servants against the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, a state affiliate of the SEIU.

In 2005, Local 1000 union officials imposed a “special assessment” to raise money from all state employees covered by a union monopoly bargaining contract for a union “Political Fight-Back Fund,” regardless of their union membership status. The political fund was used to defeat several ballot proposals supported by then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, including one that revoked public employee unions’ special privilege of using forced union dues and fees for political contributions without employee consent. California government employees were given no chance to opt out of Local 1000’s political fund.

Attorneys from the National Right to Work Foundation – the nation’s leading advocate for workers who suffer from the abuses of compulsory unionism – will argue before the Supreme Court Tuesday morning that the workers should not have been forced to pay for the SEIU union officials’ political spending spree. It is the 15th time Foundation attorneys will appear before the Court.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, is assisting thousands of employees in nearly 200 cases nationwide. Its web address is www.nrtw.org.