Janus v. AFSCME is a terrible decision, however,

[guillaumeb]

It is not the end of the struggle. Labor historians, and informed union members all know that the battle between Capital and Labor never ends. There are periods of relative piece, most recently and most notably from 1950 to 1980, but conflict is the norm, as Capitalists will always attempt to seize the maximum profits at the expense of workers.

The Janus decision applies to public sector workers at the State and local government levels. It does not apply to Federal workers or Federal unions because the Janus type restrictions have always applied to Federal workers and workplaces.

I will use the United States Postal Service (USPS) as an example. Of all of the letter carriers who work for the USPS, 92% belong to the National Association of Letter Carriers, the NALC. Think about that. In a workplace where workers could never be forced to join a union, 92% belong to a union.

Why?

Organization, teaching the workers about the union struggle, explaining why a union is a necessity, and having Union Stewards interact with letter carriers in every installation.
So even post Janus, unions must step up and sell the union because labor history is generally absent from history as it is taught.

[Iliyah]

1. Good to know!

[oasis]

2. Kick and recommend. Union yes!

[angrychair]

3. I'm a public sector employee and a shop steward

To be honest this will be the death of the union in my state despite it being a blue state. As soon as they know they don’t have to pay but still have to be represented they will stop paying as quickly as they can. A lot of people have told me they are going to stop paying now but still completely expect the union to represent them.

None realize that if enough of them stop paying that the union will run out of money and fold.

I see no silver lining in any of this.

There is no way I can support the people at my agency on my own without support from the union local...I’ll likely resign as a shop steward because there is no way I can take on the extra workload without council reps anymore.

[guillaumeb]

4. Letter carriers must make a choice to join.

92% make that choice. I cannot speak to circumstances in your Union, or your local, but our Union stresses teaching and outreach.


I was actually paid to work as a Union Steward, but as a local Steward, a lot of commitment is always required. My sympathies to you.

Perhaps your National Union will be working on outreach to help you in your struggle.

[angrychair]

6. I hope it turns out better

But most of the council reps were told months ago that they were going to be let go once the ruling came down with the expectation that shop stewards would take on the extra work in their respective state agencies. Right now I’m the only active shop steward in my agency.

“Apathy” best describes most people feelings toward the union.

Most recognize that our HR would only ever represent management they just assume that they can just not pay but the union has to still represent them anyway, even if no one pays or participates.
While, obviously, that is a complete ignorance of how it works, every attempt to foster understanding has been met with a assumption that “someone will fix it” without understanding that that someone is supposed to be themselves.

[guillaumeb]

7. You expressed that viewpoint very well.

And I sympathize with your issues.

[spanone]

5. K&R...