Buckeye Institute Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 20, 2022

Lisa Gates, Vice President of Communications, (614) 224-3255

The Buckeye Institute Files Suit Against Government Unions for Illegally Taking Wages from Workers’ Paychecks Columbus, OH – On Monday, The Buckeye Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of ten hardworking Ohio public employees who have had money illegally taken out of their paychecks by their employers and given to a government union. Darling v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was filed in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.   “In Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court clearly stated that the First Amendment protects public employees from being forced to ‘subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern’ without consent,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute and the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case. “But, once again, the government unions are trying to claim that these public servants—whom everyone acknowledges are no longer members of the union—are nonetheless obligated to continue paying union dues. Ohio law simply does not allow this unethical practice, and we are asking the court to tell the unions and the government to stop illegally taking money from these workers’ paychecks.”   The Buckeye Institute represents ten public employees from across Ohio: Lukas Darling of Campbell was a property enforcement officer for the Boardman Township Planning and Zoning Department. He was a member of AFSCME before he resigned on November 4, 2020. Tonya Iannarino of Toledo is an OMB specialist for Toledo Public Schools. She was a member of AFSCME before she resigned on November 13, 2020. Chelsea Kolacki of Toledo is an office assistant for the Maumee City School District. She was a member of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees before she resigned on September 24, 2020. Kristy Kolacki of Toledo is a secretary for the Maumee City School District. She was a member of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees before she resigned on September 24, 2020. Laura Langsdale of Akron is a custodian for the Springfield Local School District. She was a member of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees before she resigned on October 20, 2020. Barb Larrow of Maumee is a bus driver for Toledo Public Schools. She was a member of AFSCME before she resigned on March 11, 2021. Ronnie Legg of Galloway is a driver for the Columbus City School District. He was a member of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees before he resigned on August 20, 2020. Deborah Pinion of Upper Sandusky is a highway technician with the Ohio Department of Transportation. She was previously a member of AFSCME before she resigned on March 20, 2020. Stephen Tulga of Columbus is a bus driver for the Upper Arlington City School District. He was a member of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees before he resigned on May 6, 2021. Christin Wilkins of Bowling Green was an eighth-grade science teacher for the Columbus City School District. She was a member of the Ohio Education Association before she resigned on August 25, 2020. # # #

Founded in 1989, The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational institution – a think tank – whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states. The Buckeye Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit, and tax-exempt organization, as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. As such, it relies on support from individuals, corporations, and foundations that share a commitment to individual liberty, free enterprise, personal responsibility, and limited government. The Buckeye Institute does not seek or accept government funding.

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Press Release: The Buckeye Institute

Contacts: The Buckeye Institute: Lisa Gates (614) 224-3255 or Lisa@BuckeyeInstitute.org Liberty Justice Center: Kristen Williamson 773-809-4403 or media@libertyjusticecenter.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     April 29, 2019 Kent State Employees Sue Over Illegal Union Dues   Columbus, OH -- Three Kent State University workers have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that union dues were illegally deducted from their paychecks (download a copy of the complaint).   Annamarie Hannay and Adda Grape are custodians for student residence halls at Kent State University. Since they started working at the university, they were required to pay money to AFSCME, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. However, in August 2018, each of them resigned their union membership and requested that Kent State stop deducting union dues from their paychecks.   Despite the decisive victory for workers' rights in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision, AFSCME refused to honor the resignations of these employees outside of arbitrary opt-out periods. Kent State University continued to deduct dues from the workers' paychecks without their affirmative consent.   Hannay, Grape, and their coworker John Kohl are now suing to exercise their "Janus rights" with the help of attorneys from The Buckeye Institute, which also represents plaintiffs in Maine, Minnesota, and Ohio in cases to end forced union exclusive representation, and the Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm that represented the plaintiff in Janus v. AFSCME.   "AFSCME is putting money before workers. The union is violating workers' constitutional rights by denying their resignations in order to keep collecting dues," said Patrick Hughes, president and co-founder of the Liberty Justice Center. "Kent State is supporting the interests of a government union above the workers who serve their students every day."   In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus that government employers may not withhold union dues or fees from employees' paychecks without their affirmative consent. Prior to the Janus decision, employees were given an unconstitutional choice: pay the union as a member or pay the union as a nonmember. Now that workers' First Amendment right to choose has been recognized, any permission to deduct dues given before June 27, 2018, should be null and void.   "I'm being forced to pay the union for more than a year after I first submitted my resignation and withdrew any permission to deduct dues from my paycheck," said Annamarie Hannay, who pays almost $600 each year to AFSCME. "I sent in my resignation to the union and Kent State in August 2018. Since then, not only has my resignation been denied, but I've also received confusing and contradictory messages from the union about when I could finally stop paying them money from every paycheck."   "Annamarie and Adda are asking the court to rule against this egregious and ongoing violation of their First Amendment rights, which-to date-their union has refused to acknowledge," said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute. "The U.S. Supreme Court spoke plainly in its Janus ruling that unions must obtain 'clear and compelling evidence' that a worker has consented to be a member of the union. In this case, AFSCME has not done so. In fact, Annamarie and Adda have resigned their memberships and made it plainly known that they do not want to be members of the union."   Hannay, Grape, and Kohl's case, Hannay v. Board of Trustees of Kent State University, was filed on April 29, 2019, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. A copy of the case is available here.   # # #   Founded in 1989, The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational institution - a think tank - whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states. The Buckeye Institute filed the first significant First Amendment labor-law challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court following the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision. Buckeye's case pending cert before the U.S. Supreme Court, Uradnik v. Inter Faculty Organization, calls for an immediate end to laws that force public-sector employees to accept a union's exclusive representation. Buckeye is also representing other plaintiffs in Maine and Ohio in their efforts to end forced union exclusive representation. Learn more about The Buckeye Institute at BuckeyeInstitute.org.   The Liberty Justice Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public-interest litigation center that was founded to fight against political privilege. The most notable example of the Liberty Justice Center's success in this arena is its 2018 U.S. Supreme Court victory in Janus v. AFSCME. Beyond its work in the Janus case, the Liberty Justice Center's team of talented, liberty-minded attorneys are also fighting to protect economic liberty, private property rights, free speech and other fundamental rights. The Liberty Justice Center pursues its goals through strategic, precedent-setting litigation to revitalize constitutional restraints on government power and protections for individual rights. Learn more about the Liberty Justice Center's fight to restore workers' First Amendment rights at standwithworkers.org, and about the organization itself at LibertyJusticeCenter.org.

Janus case: Friends of the court offer weak defense of mandatory union dues

By Steven Greenhut January 25, 2018

The nation’s public-sector unions have all but thrown in the towel on the notion of mandatory dues, yet various legal theorists and organizations have submitted briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court defending the right of unions to arm-twist dues from those who don’t agree with the union’s agenda.

After reading their arguments, it’s clear why the unions are worried.

The issue before the court – Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 31, et al. – seems like a clear First Amendment case. Why should government employees be forced to subsidize private organizations that can then use the funds to advance policies the employee might find to be repugnant? Why should such financial support be a condition of one’s employment?

Tossing these rules is a no-brainer for most libertarians. That’s why a recent article on the libertarian Reason website has caused a stir. Based on a friend-of-the-court brief he signed, Eugene Volokh argued that “there’s no First Amendment problem with compulsory union agency fees.”......To Read More.....

Column: Case is key to public workers’ free speech

Jesse Hathaway Dec. 27, 2017

As thoughts turn to celebrating the incoming year, a Supreme Court case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, could give government workers a reason to be merry in 2018, by freeing them from union captivity and delivering a big win for personal liberty.

More than 40 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled on a similar case, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, in which the court determined teachers lacked the right to fully opt out of union membership while employed in a public school system where teachers are unionized.  Objecting public servants may “opt out” of paying the portion of their involuntary membership fee, but because money is fungible, union bosses still use individuals’ money to speak for what the union boss wants.

 

In 2016, Mark Janus, an Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services child support specialist, sued the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, arguing the union was infringing upon his rights by extracting membership dues from his paycheck without his consent........To Read More.........

My Take - The truth of the matter is this needs to be expanded to include regular votes on whether the member even what a union or whether or not they want the current union.  Most of these unions were voted in decades ago and now the current employees are stuck with them and now the union is not the servant of the membership - it's their master - and the rules for kicking a union out are so difficult it's more mafia like than democratic. 

U.S. Contributions to U.N. Up 142% Since 2001 -- $4.5 Billion

By Penny Starr

The financial contribution that the United States makes to the United Nations has increased sharply over the past decade, rising by $4.5 billion between 2001 and 2010 – a 142 percent rise -- according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).   Since 2006, the OMB has presented Congress with an annual report detailing the U.S. contributions to the U.N. system for each fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.  To Read More….