Opinion ID: 402462
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: conclusion

Text: 146 Section 14(b) expresses the policy of federal labor law, however controversial it may be. Organized labor traditionally opposes right-to-work laws, and seeks evisceration of section 14(b), but the unions may not be allowed to accomplish through litigation what they cannot obtain from Congress. By no account should my views be understood as urging an end run around the position that Congress has clearly taken. 147 But it seems equally injudicious for courts to ascribe to Congress a position that it has not taken, especially when doing so contravenes the balancing inherent in federal labor policy. The legislative history of section 14(b) utterly fails to support the majority's view of this case, and it seems irrefutable that the majority has misread Schermerhorn and other judicial interpretations of that statute. By extending section 14(b) far beyond its terms, the majority turns a blind eye to the model of trade union democracy so clearly contemplated by Congress. The majority offers no reason, whether rooted in judicial precedent or legislative intent or sound policy, for such a result. 148 Trade union democracy as contemplated by Congress has and will require judicial interpretation that is sometimes complex, but the general principles are simple. Individual workers have certain rights and freedoms that must be protected from arbitrary union action; section 14(b) is one of the mechanisms that Congress intended to protect these rights. On the other hand, the union selected as the bargaining representative is the exclusive bargaining representative not just of the majority who support it, but of the entire bargaining unit. The union therefore has obligations and responsibilities even to nonunion workers that lead to a corresponding reduction in the individual rights of the employees so represented. Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. at 182, 87 S.Ct. at 912. Even in the states that have enacted laws pursuant to section 14(b), the mesh between unions and workers has grown tighter over the years whether that mesh is desired or not. It fully accords with the intent of Congress to take this fact into consideration when analyzing the scope of section 14(b). Workers who pay fees to cover the cost of their direct representation are not thereby transformed into members of the union because, as the Supreme Court has emphasized, membership means payment of dues and initiation fees that support the union's institutional expenses. 149 The model of trade union democracy with its problem of free riders traditionally suggests an analogy to military defense or police protection. Taxpayers receive these services whether they desire them or not, and are not permitted to reduce their taxes by the amount of unwanted service. The situation before us now is even more striking; the better analogy is the taxpayer who not only declines to support the police department, but who demands that it send officers to check his home every day while he is away on vacation. Even in a right-to-work state, nonunion employees cannot avoid union representation and frequently benefit directly from particular union efforts in their behalf. Letting unions recoup these costs of representation does not constitute coerced membership within the meaning of section 14(b). Because judicial precedent and sound policy support this conclusion, and the legislative history of section 14(b) does not foreclose it, I respectfully dissent.