Opinions on recent court decision under- score the need to make our union: UNBREAKABLE!
On May 31, 2020, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an OPINION that: the state of Texas should no longer automatically collect union dues for public employees. Instead, public employers must have proof of consent directly from employees before the state can collect union dues. The opinion goes on to state that dues forms should be worded to reflect the Supreme Court decision of Janus v. AFSCME. The suggested language is as follows:
I recognize that I have a 1st Amendment right to associate, including the right not to associate. My rights provide that I am not compelled to be a member of a labor organization. I am not compelled to pay a labor organization any money as a condition of employment, and I do not have to sign this consent form. However, I am waiving this right and consent to union membership.
This is retaliation for a series of victories TSEU has had in the Texas legislature defending the right of state employees to have the freedom to pay union dues from their paychecks. By organizing and mobilizing thousands of state workers and by working in coalition with other labor unions, TSEU was victorious in each of these battles. It was a very close call every time, and we should all hold our heads high for the work we did stopping these attacks. While standing strong against any privatization attempts, TSEU has been on the frontlines in fights for work place safety, for our pensions and healthcare, and for social justice and civil rights.
If agency commissioners choose to adhere to the Attorney General’s decision, all current TSEU members could be un-enrolled and made to rejoin TSEU along with caveats such as changes to membership forms as noted above. As a member-driven organization entirely funded by member dues, this would weaken our union before the upcoming elections and would require a shift in the focus of our attention to membership concerns and red tape instead of advocacy and mobilizing for quality services. A united, politically involved, organized state employee workforce is the worst nightmare for politicians like Ken Paxton.
When the union is under attack, we stand up and fight back!
We cannot wait around to be attacked; therefore we must take the threat of ”Membership Purging” off the table. To make our union invulnerable to these kinds of threats, we are restarting our TSEU UNBREAKABLE campaign. By making your membership ‘unbreakable’, you are pre-authorizing a switch to bank draft collection of membership dues in the event that ANY state agency decides to purge union members by refusing to collect dues through payroll deduction.
You can fill out your UNBREAKABLE form online at TODAY!