Issue
Workers' Rights
Your Voice, Your Dollars
If you work for a public school district, city hall, a state agency, another government body – or any other kind of local, state, or federal government entity – you have the right to decide whether you want to join a union at your workplace. If you decide union membership isn’t for you, then you are not obligated to pay the union at your workplace any kind of dues or fees, and you have the U.S. Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME to back you up on that.
The Liberty Justice Center represented Mark Janus all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to protect his right to spend his money how he wants. The decision to join or financially support a union is an important and deeply personal one for anyone who takes a government job. Before deciding whether union membership is right for you, it is important to know what’s at stake and what rights you have.
6 Janus Rights Government Workers Should Know
Our Cases Fighting For Workers' Rights
Our Fight in the News
New Jersey Plumber Wins Case Against Union over Illegal Deductions
(Tampa Free Press)—The Liberty Justice Center has secured a significant win for workers’ rights, as a New Jersey union has agreed to settle a lawsuit involving unlawful paycheck deductions from a local plumber’s wages. The case centered on Nicolo Giangrasso, a plumber employed by the Hamilton Township School District, who...
Opinion: Labor Day—A Time to Reflect on Workers’ Rights and Janus v. AFSCME
(Tampa Free Press)—As we celebrate Labor Day, a day dedicated to honoring the contributions of American workers, it is imperative to reflect on the evolving landscape of worker rights. This reflection is particularly poignant in the context of the landmark 2018 Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME, which has given...
Opinion: Why Are Unions Forcing Workers to Subsidize Speech They Find Offensive?
(Tampa Free Press)—On Labor Day, many associate unions with advancements in workers’ pay, benefits, and working conditions—but the truth is that unions don’t always make workers better off. Many workers who choose not to join a union are nevertheless compelled to pay money to that union—even when the union takes...
Government Employees Cannot Be Compelled to Pay Any Money, Regardless of Labels, to a Union
Six years ago, in Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from compelling its employees to pay any money to a union in order to maintain their job. Specifically, the Court put an end to the practice in Connecticut and 23 other...
School Plumber Says Union Forced Him to Pay Dues, Contrary to Supreme Court Ruling
(New Jersey Monitor)—A Mercer County plumber is suing Hamilton’s school district and a pipefitters union, alleging they forced him to pay union dues in defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that bars mandatory dues for public sector workers. In a filing submitted Thursday, Nicolo Giangrasso alleges he sought to...
Liberty Justice Center Sues New Jersey Union for Violating Plumber’s Constitutional Rights
(Tampa Free Press)—The Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit Thursday against a New Jersey union for allegedly violating a local plumber’s constitutional rights by using semantics to skirt a Supreme Court ruling. The union claimed that the landmark 2018 decision Janus v. AFSCME doesn’t apply because they labeled the money...