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The Columbus Dispatch...
Teachers suing union over use of fees
By Catherine Candisky
Friday August 5, 2011 

Some public school teachers say the Ohio Education Association is forcing them to help finance the union’s political activity. 

In a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Columbus, 15 teachers claim that so-called fair-share fees taken from their paychecks are unlawfully being used to finance campaigns, lobby elected officials and similar efforts. 

The teachers have declined to pay membership dues to the union, but are assessed a fee to help cover expenses incurred by the union in negotiating contracts which cover both members and non-members. In their suit, they contend their fee is also contributing to the union’s political work. 

The Virginia-based Right to Work Foundation, which is providing the teachers legal assistance, says “under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution nonmember teachers cannot be forced to pay dues or fees for union boss politics and other non-bargaining activities.” 

The teachers also claim the association is not providing them with independently-audited financial statements as required by law to show how fees they pay are being used. 

The teachers are asking the union to reimburse them for the portion of their fees which were improperly spent during the last two school years. They do not specify how much may have been improperly spent. 

“OEA union officials have a long history of abusing teachers’ rights in the workplace to fund their political coffers,” said Mark Mix, president of National Right to Work. “It’s important to remember where the OEA union machine gets a large amount of its money as it gears up its efforts to defeat recent public-sector reforms in the Buckeye State – reforms that allow teachers to opt out of forced dues payments.” 

Mix was referring to the union’s efforts to support of a ballot measure to repeal Senate Bill 5 which would make fair-share payments voluntary for teachers and other public employees who refuse to pay union dues. 

OEA officials were not immediately available to comment. 

Read it at the Columbus Dispatch

 




 
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