VTA Employee Claims California Law Authorizing Union ‘Agency Fees’ is Unconstitutional

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An employee of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) claims in a proposed class action that he was unlawfully forced to pay union “agency fees” as a condition of his employment despite his refusal to join the union or finance any of its activities.

The fees were authorized by a collective bargaining agreement between VTA and co-defendant Service Employees International Union Local 521 (SEIU), the suit claims. The lawsuit, which also names California's attorney general and governor as defendants in their official capacities, takes issue with a state law that authorizes “agency shop arrangements” through which unions are permitted to collect dues from non-union public employees as a condition of their employment. The plaintiff argues that this practice violates workers’ Constitutional rights—specifically, their First Amendment rights to free speech and association, “as secured against state infringement by the Fourteenth Amendment.”