Freedom Foundation files class-action lawsuit against the SEIU, Gov. Kate Brown, others.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
The Freedom Foundation — a Washington state libertarian think tank — has filed a class-action lawsuit against the SEIU, Gov. Kate Brown and others.
The union represents more than 20,000 home-care workers in the state.
The Freedom Foundation’s general counsel, James Abernathy, said the suit will focus on two arguments: That the state and SEIU cannot take union dues from or force membership for home-care workers who did not consent to union membership, and that SEIU’s exclusivity as the only bargaining agent for home-care workers is illegal.
“What we’re saying is we believe it violated workers’ First Amendment rights of free association and to petition the government when a state forces somebody to be represented in this context by a private organization that would represent them on these matters of public concern,” Abernathy said.
(SOURCE: Statesman Journal)
