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Some public employees don’t know they have a First Amendment right to join or not join a union. The issue is further confused when government employers take money for union dues from workers’ paychecks. Washington state can and should correct the problem when lawmakers meet for the 2025 legislative session beginning Jan. 13.
In Janus v. AFSCME, the court decided that government workers who choose not to join a union can’t be required to pay union fees or dues as a condition of working in public service. Since the ruling, public-sector-union membership has declined, despite the increase in public employment.
That some public employees in Washington state are still unaware they don’t have to give a portion of their earnings to a union with which they disagree is not a surprise. Public unions aren’t generous with the information. What is surprising is that the state doesn’t offer good information to its employees about Janus rights, either. Even a Washington state Department of Labor and Industries web page devoted to workers’ rights ignores the issue.
Not only does the state make it difficult to find neutral information about this important workplace right, it distorts the question of whether union dues are required or optional by playing the role of dues collector for public unions.
Lawmakers can fix both of those problems and join other states working to ensure that public employees' First Amendment rights are respected and known. Having public employees pay union dues just as they do other personal bills would help keep the worker right and the choice to join a union front and center.
Read more about this state solution in a policy paper I wrote titled, “Washington state should stop collecting dues for unions and help protect worker rights instead.”
