On March 29, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a one sentence 4-4 decision in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. The Court’s decision stated, in total: “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.” This opinion leaves undisturbed the U.S. Court of Appeals decision which upheld the California law requiring public employees who chose not to join a union to still pay to the union “fair share fees”. The case stems from a challenge by a group of nonunion teachers in California to a state law requiring them to pay money to the local union in order to cover their “fair share” of collective bargaining activities. Under the law, public employees who choose not to join unions must pay an “agency fee,” which is usually 65 to 100 percent of the full union membership dues. These fees are meant to finance bargaining over working conditions that benefit both union and nonunion members.
Union supporters surmised this challenge is part of a larger plan to limit the power of public unions. In recent history, the majority of the labor movement’s growth has been in the public sector and this case could have served as a major financial blow to public unions. The plaintiffs, however, asserted that public-sector unions will not be bankrupted if they lose the agency fees of non-members.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard expanded arguments on this case on January 11, 2016. However, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia unexpectedly died in February, 2016, before the Court reached its decision. Scalia’s death left an even number, 8, Justices on the Court. In its March 29, 2016 decision, the remaining Justices split equally on the issue, leaving undisturbed the lower Court’s findings. The public teachers who brought the lawsuit have requested that the Court rehear and decide the issue, but only after Justice Scalia’s successor is appointed and confirmed.