Union Station: November 2, 2018

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On June 27, the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (Janus). The court ruled that public sector unions cannot require non-member employees to pay agency fees to cover the costs of non-political union activities. This week, we take a closer look at Janus' effect on membership in some prominent public-sector unions.

• National Education Association: According to The 74, a website covering education news, the National Education Association (NEA) lost about 87,000 agency fee payers and 17,000 dues-paying members nationwide post-Janus. This represents about 3 percent of the union's total membership. (The Wall Street Journal, The 74)
• At the state level (via Politico):
  • Illinois Federation of Teachers: The Illinois Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), reported losing about 6,500 agency fee payers and 250 members post-Janus. This represents approximately 7 percent of its total membership.
  • Montana: The Montana Federation of Public Employees, an affiliate of NEA and AFT, lost approximately 2,000 agency fee payers and 400 members post-Janus, nearly 10 percent of its total membership of 25,000.
  • Ohio: The Ohio Federation of Teachers, an AFT affiliate, lost about 250 agency fee payers and less than 20 members post-Janus. This represents about 2 percent of its 15,000 pre-Janus membership.
  • Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State Education Association, an NEA affiliate, lost about 6,500 agency fee payers and 800 members, about 4 percent of its pre-Janus membership of 181,000.

What we've been reading:

• The Sacramento Bee, "After court loss, California unions still have big money for politics. It might not be enough," Oct. 31, 2018
• The Washington Post, "Metro and union accused of unfairly deducting dues from workers," Oct. 30, 2018
• Bloomberg Law, "Union Finance Disclosure Rules Could Face Legal Challenges," Oct. 29, 2018

The big picture

States in session: As of Nov. 2, state legislatures in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Virginia are in session or special session. The remaining state legislatures have either adjourned or are in recess.

Number of relevant bills by state

As of Nov. 2, we are tracking 202 pieces of legislation dealing with public-sector employee union policy. No new bills were tracked this week. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we're tracking.

Number of relevant bills by current legislative status

Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s)

See also

• Public sector union policy in the United States