Unions smell defeat

Minnesota trickery in teachers’ union renewals.

Kim Crockett continued her national activism against the mandatory collection of union dues from public unions this fall when she published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Unions Act as if They’ve Already Lost: The Supreme Court may soon ban so-called fair-share fees.”

The court this fall agreed to hear Janus v. AFSCME, a case in which state employee Mark Janus wants to stop paying mandatory union dues. A decision is expected by June 2018, and unions are already preparing to lose, Crockett suggests.

She pointed to a tactic in which Education Minnesota is burying fine print in its annual renewal form.

“I’ve reviewed a copy of the form, which says the union is authorized to deduct dues from the teachers’ paychecks,” Crockett said. “It also includes the following fine print: ‘This authorization shall remain in effect and shall be automatically renewed from year to year, irrespective of my membership in the union, unless I revoke it by submitting written notice to both my employer and the local union during the seven-day period that begins on September 24 and ends on September 30.’”