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Supreme Court ruling deals blow to public sector unions, workers say

The decision will It will not impact the Prop A vote on whether or not to make Missouri a so-called 'Right-to-Work' state. That issue will be on the ballot in August.
Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Visitors line up outside the U.S. Supreme Court plaza before the court handed down decisions June 18, 2018 in Washington, DC.

WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a major blow to public sector unions Thursday in the Janus v. AFSME case.

In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that workers can’t be forced to pay union dues.

Their decision struck down an Illinois law requiring non-union workers to pay union dues. That ultimately overturned a 1977 law that required employees to pay union fees.

Approximately 14 million Americans work in the public sector.

Becky Sandcamper is a teacher’s assistant at Louis and Clark Electuary School in Godfrey, Illinois. She’s been there for 13 years. She called the decision very disappointing.

"The union helps out with the papers and pencils and the things that the lower income schools don't have. We provide books for them,” she said.

Chris Grant, a Labor Attorney at Schuchat, Cook and Werner said Missouri workers won’t be that impacted by the decision because there are very few employees working under collective bargaining agreements with fair share provisions.

Fair share is the clause in contracts mean everyone must pay into the union, and as a result, everyone reaps the benefits of the union.

"The union has to negotiate on everyone, represent everyone, the contract applies to everyone, so you have to pay your fair share fee,” said Grant.

However, it’s unclear what happens to people who decide to no longer pay into the union and whether they still receive the benefits.

The decision will It will not impact the Prop A vote on whether or not to make Missouri a so-called 'Right-to-Work' state. That issue will be on the ballot in August.

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