A split Supreme Court has issued its opinion in Harris v. Quinn, holding that Illinois’ requirement that home-health-care providers join a union or else pay an “agency fee” to the union is unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
The Court rejected Illinois’ argument that the Court should rely upon a previous decision holding that public-sector -employee unions could require membership in the union or payment of an agency fee. The Court dismissed this earlier decision as an “anomaly,” and noted that Illinois had in essence declared home-health-care workers to be public-sector employees solely for the purpose of forcing unionization upon them. The Court pointed out that although the health-care workers were paid from state funds, their daily employment related to their clients, not the state government.
Because the health-care providers were not truly “public employees,” then, the Court stated that the earlier decision did not apply. Accordingly, forcing employees to either pay union dues or an “agency fee” that amounts to a substantial percentage of union dues violated the First Amendment because it compelled employees to financially support a union that they might personally oppose.
Although the opinion is clearly a defeat for organized labor, its distinction between public-sector employees and pseudo-public-sector employees creates a narrow precedent far short of what Big Labor’s strongest critics would prefer. Compulsory unionization and “agency fees” extracted from non-union members will continue for public employees and non-public employees in non-right-to-work states. But the opinion’s focus on the First Amendment will certainly provide an important tool for those seeking to further cut back unions’ power to extract money from employees.
Jason is an attorney practicing criminal law, civil litigation, and administrative law. Jason formerly worked as a Resident Instructor of International Relations at Creighton University, focusing on civil-military relations and national security strategy. Jason also served 15 years in the United States Air Force, including service at USSTRATCOM, America’s nuclear-weapons command.
Jason lives in Minnesota with his wife, three sons, three dogs, and three cats.