The Precarious Position of Public Unions

In many states, public employees are required by law to pay union dues—regardless of whether they agree with the union’s advocacy efforts. This arrangement has long been a subject of legal disputes. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled on the most recent battle, Harris v. Quinn, a case brought by eight home-health-care workers in Illinois. These workers, who were paid with Medicaid funds, argued that they should not be required to contribute to a union for public workers. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for a five-to-four majority, found that these workers were only “partial public employees”—a new category—as distinct from, say, nurses at a county hospital, and so didn’t have to pay union dues. He left for another day the broader question of whether any worker should be required to pay the dues. In that sense, it was a narrower decision than many had expected. But it still leaves public unions in a precarious position.

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