In a much anticipated case, the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 overturned 40 years of precedent by ruling that mandatory public-sector union dues are unconstitutional.

In a 5-4 vote issued today, the majority held that states and public-sector unions may no longer require workers to pay agency fees. "Neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a nonmember's wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay," Justice Samuel Alito Jr. wrote for the majority.

In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the decision will have far-reaching consequences. "Public employee unions will lose a secure source of financial support. State and local governments that thought fair-share provisions furthered their interests will need to find new ways of managing their workforces," she wrote.

This decision overturns the 40-year-old Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Educ., which allowed collecting agency fees from all unit employees to cover costs related to collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievances, but not the union’s political and ideological projects. 431 U.S. 209 (1977).

As a result, effective immediately, fair share fees may no longer be lawfully collected from public sector employees. Agency fee arrangements that have been negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement must cease immediately. This Supreme Court decision takes precedence over any contractual bargaining language. Schools are also receiving alerts on this from the Ohio Education Association and other public sector unions.

Schools should continue to collect dues from current union members. Members looking to make changes to their membership would follow any standard procedures regarding withdrawal from the union.