ST. LOUIS — The Show-Me Institute says the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) won't have a huge impact in Missouri because the state already doesn't allow agency fees to be taken from employees' salaries.
Show-Me Institute's Director of Government Accountability Patrick Ishmael said while unions have attempted to get agency fees passed in the state in the past, the law is against them.
"It doesn't mean it won't have a big impact nationwide—just across the state line from St. Louis is Illinois and obviously, the Janus case is from Illinois so it'll have a pretty big impact there," Ishmael said in an interview with the St. Louis Record.
Patrick Ishmael
The high court ruled on Wednesday in favor of plaintiff Mark Janus, finding that forcing government workers to pay union fees violated their First Amendment Rights.
"It'll circumscribe what unions can do so that the candidacy situation can't happen again," Ishmael said. "But, on a day-to-day basis, not a whole lot is going to change."
Ishmael said there are approximately 300,000 public sector employees in Missouri, so it's not an insignificant number.
"I know a lot of questions will be raised about what's the financial impact going to be?" Ishmael said. "I don't know that there is going to be an impact in Missouri in terms of government unions finances."
The Janus decision did, however, change how employees become part of a union. They are no longer opted in by default. Employees now must opt-in if they want to be part of the union, instead of opting out like before.
"One really interesting aspect of the Janus case is that there will no longer be this presumption that you have to opt out," Ishmael said. "If you look at the very end of the majority opinion, it says pretty explicitly that unless you have explicit consent from an employee to take fees from them, then you cannot take their money. "
Ishmael said Janus requires that you explicitly overtly consent and opt into the union and say that you want the union fees deducted.
Janus is a child support specialist for the state government in Illinois. Pat Hughes, attorney and co-founder of Liberty Justice Center, represented Janus, along with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
The Supreme Court made its ruling Wednesday after hearing arguments in February. Justice Samuel Alito authored the majority opinion. The court ruled 5-4 with Janus.