Today, Landmark Legal Foundation filed a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court in Belgau v. Inslee. In this case, public-sector workers sued Washington Governor Jay Inslee and their union, AFSCME Council 28, the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE), over the deduction of union dues from their paychecks. This case is one of many arising from steps taken by public-sector unions to avoid the restrictions from a groundbreaking Supreme Court case in 2018, Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31.

In Janus, the Supreme Court overruled forty-year-old precedent to protect workers’ First Amendment rights. No longer would nonunion members be forced to pay any fees to unions unless they provided consent.

In Janus, the Supreme Court overruled forty-year-old precedent to protect workers’ First Amendment rights. No longer would nonunion members be forced to pay any fees to unions unless they provided consent. In anticipation of Janus, many unions revised their payroll deduction authorizations with their union members so that even if the members later decided to leave the union, they would be contractually obligated to pay the full amount of union dues until a narrow escape period at the end of the contract.

Landmark urges the Court to accept the case and protect workers from being forced to support a union. Landmark’s brief is here.