Pixabay
Pixabay
Roughly 8,000 public sector employees in Minnesota are being represented in a class action suit against two labor unions for forcing them to pay union fees as a condition for unemployment.
The Center Square reports the Liberty Justice Center and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation are suing the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 5 and Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) for allegedly collecting dues from employees. The practice of charging employees union dues in order for them to keep their jobs was deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME.
“Thousands of employees in Minnesota had millions of dollars illegally taken from them by AFSCME and MAPE and we’re suing to get that money back,” LJC Co-founder and President Patrick Hughes said in a press release. “Unions around the country have been playing this same game for years, and AFSCME and MAPE need to be held accountable because they violated the U.S. Constitution by taking money from public workers who weren’t union members. Liberty Justice Center is representing these public employees so that their hard-earned money is back in their pockets where it belongs.”
Eric Brown, the lead plaintiff of the case against AFSCME, said he joined the lawsuit because he was forced to pay dues for a union that he never wanted to join but had to because he wanted to work for the state.
“It is time for AFSCME to abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling, return the money that was taken out of my paycheck without my permission, and return money to other Minnesota state employees who were victim to this as well,” Brown said.
LJC and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation are seeking a total of $19 million in returned union fees for employees.