Article
“Sticking with the Union After Janus” Union Library Workers 2017-2018 Report by Elaine Harger and Kathleen de la Peña McCook
Progressive Librarian
(2020)
Abstract
On June 27, 2018 the public sector union landscape shifted with the Supreme Court Janus vs. AFSCME ruling that dramatically undermined unions for librarians, teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public employees throughout the United States (Matthews, 2018).
In 2017-2018 unions responded to the 2016 election as a push-back against their daily work. Coming into 2017 unions were faced with the realization that their hollowing out had impacted election choices because of the powerful role unions play in politically mobilizing and educating their members by articulating and transmitting social democratic values and class solidarity. Because unions were delivering less at the bargaining table members were less willing to accept political direction (Draper, 2017) .
The main event in 2018 for library workers, many of whom are in the public sector, was the Supreme Court Janus decision, which ended the longstanding practice of unions’ right to collect dues from all bargaining unit members regardless of an individual's decision to join or not join the union.
Janus V. American Federation Of State, County, And Municipal Employees,Council 31, et al. No. 16-1466. (S. Ct. June 27, 2018).
While unions sought to mitigate the impact of Janus, anti-union groups such as the National Right to Work Foundation created the website, MyJanusRights.org, to assist union members in leaving unions. AFSCME describes the Janus case as eroding the freedom “to form unions to improve our lives and the communities we serve (AFSCME, n.d., para. 3).”
Manzo and Bruno (2018) of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute have forecasted the effects of the Janus decision against fair share fees– specifically on state and local government workers, including teachers. They assess the likely impacts of Janus on public sector union membership, and on the wage and salary incomes of state and local government employees, including teachers.
Keywords
- labor,
- unions,
- library workers
Disciplines
Publication Date
Winter 2020
Citation Information
Kathleen de la Peña McCook. "“Sticking with the Union After Janus” Union Library Workers 2017-2018 Report by Elaine Harger and Kathleen de la Peña McCook" Progressive Librarian Vol. 47 Iss. 162 (2020) p. 139 ISSN: 1052-5736 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kathleendelapena_mccook/33/
Creative Commons license
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