UNIONS TO BE BROUGHT BEFORE SCOTUS FOR THEIR SCHEMES

Dear Conservatives,

Your National Right to Work Foundation is headed back to the United States Supreme Court... and the union bosses are in full panic.

The Supreme Court announced last week that it will hear oral arguments on January 10 in Knox v. Service Employees International Union Local 1000, a case brought by Foundation attorneys.

Fearing an embarrassing loss, union lawyers have now begged the Supreme Court to toss out the case after offering to pay back all of the money to objecting employees.

Simply put, we caught the union bosses red-handed.


Big Labor desperately wants to sweep the case under the rug so other union bosses across the country can continue what is an outrageous and increasingly common forced dues for politics strategy.

Let me tell you more about this case.

In the class-action lawsuit, Foundation attorneys are providing free legal aid to eight California government workers, including two former union members, challenging a corrupt political fundraising scheme.

You see, back in 2005, SEIU Local 1000 union bosses demanded a "special assessment" to raise money from every single state employee covered by a union monopoly bargaining contract for a union political fund.

Union bosses claimed they needed these "extra" millions to defeat ballot initiatives that would limit their monopoly power over government workers and stranglehold on California taxpayers -- demonstrating once again how forced dues corrupt the political process.

But, thanks to previous Right to Work Foundation victories at the Supreme Court, union bosses cannot compel independent workers to pay dues or fees that fund union politics.

In 1986, the Court unanimously ruled in Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson that government-sector union bosses must provide employees with an audited breakdown of the union's expenditures and an opportunity to challenge the union's calculations of any forced dues or fees.

SEIU union bosses simply ignored the law with regard to the "special assessment" and denied workers any chance to opt out.

In 2008, a federal district court ruled against SEIU union bosses, requiring that they provide workers their rights under Hudson and refund any monies spent (plus interest) on union-boss politics to nonmembers who exercise their right to refrain from subsidizing the union's political fund.

A panel of the ultra-liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals -- Big Labor's favorite appeals court -- overturned that decision, effectively encouraging union bosses to seize forced dues for politics from unwilling workers.

Allowing the Ninth Circuit's ruling to stand would further undermine state employees' First Amendment rights, so we took our case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A Foundation-won precedent at the Supreme Court would provide additional protections to every government employee across the entire country.

That's why Big Labor wants to make the case just go away. But we are determined to not let that happen.

The union bosses' cynical maneuver is a tacit admission to the effectiveness of the Foundation's legal aid program made possible by the generosity of our supporters.

Sincerely,

Mark Mix

P.S. The Foundation relies completely on voluntary contributions from its supporters to provide free legal aid.

Please chip in with a tax-deductible contribution of $10 or more today to support the Foundation's programs.