The Unions

Leaders of school employee unions in California and nationwide know the future after Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision to strike down mandatory union fees: They’ll have to fight hard in faculty lounges, custodial offices and school bus depots to hold onto each member as anti-union forces try to pull them away.Declining enrollment and the growth of mostly non-union charter schools has already made inroads on membership of local unions, including United Teachers Los Angeles. Teachers union membership in L.A. Unified has dropped from 42,000 to 31,000 since 2007, according to the school system.Now anti-union forces funded by conservatives and corporate interests plan an aggressive campaign to reduce union clout, even to “deliver the mortal blow” LATimesHeidi Shierholz is a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor. She said it's already illegal for fair-share fees to be used for political activities. She said giving workers a choice about paying their share of costs associated with negotiating higher wages and benefits and filing workplace grievances is likely to produce what she calls a "free ride" effect."Even if they value it highly, they may be unwilling to pay the dues, and that will starve the union of resources and will hurt the ability of the union to provide crucial services,” Shierholz said. “The real goal is to actually starve the unions to reduce their effectiveness."Shierholz said she believes Wednesday's decision is the result of a 40-year effort to weaken public-sector unions through the courts. In February, a report by the Economic Policy Institute identified a core group of wealthy foundations with ties to powerful corporate lobbies that bankrolled a long line of fair-share fee cases, including Janus Public News Service