A GOP workers’ rights proposal sponsored by State Rep. Kate Klunk (R-District 169) soon may see more committee action in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
The House Labor and Industry Committee last week removed House Bill (HB) 785 from the table for a second consideration after tabling the measure in March following its initial review of the bill. HB 785 has 20 Republican cosponsors.
“The House is about to enter the final month of the budget season so a vote in the full House may be delayed,” Rep. Klunk told Pennsylvania Business Report. “It is hard to say at this point.”
But she’s undeterred about informing state workers about their rights under federal legislation upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in its American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) v. Janus decision.
In June 2018, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that requiring fair share fees be donated to people or groups that engage in political lobbying and campaigning equated to forced speech and violated workers’ First Amendment rights. Because unions commonly are aligned with Democratic political candidates, the ruling was considered a nationwide victory for Republicans.
“The Supreme Court’s Janus decision is monumental as it impacts thousands of Pennsylvanians in all levels of government,” said Klunk. “I believe those who are impacted should be alerted to the law of the land. Government has a duty to inform its employees of their rights and in this case, those under the Janus decision.”
Subsequently, Rep. Klunk during the previous General Assembly session introduced HB 2571, which would require employers of public sector workers in Pennsylvania to notify workers of their newfound rights not to have to pay union fees.
The House Labor and Industry Committee last September passed her first measure on a party-line vote, but that’s as far as the bill went, prompting Klunk to force the issue again during the current 2019-2020 General Assembly session with HB 785.
“Our workers have always been and will remain the backbone of our economy,” she wrote in an email on Monday. “Workers’ rights serve to protect workers and to ensure safe working environments. Studies have shown that places of employment with high morale are very productive, which improves our overall economy. So naturally improving and informing workers of their rights would have a ripple effect on the economy.”
Plain and simple, Klunk thinks that state workers should know their rights.
“Workers in the public sector shouldn’t be kept in the dark about the important changes laid out in the Supreme Court’s Janus decision,” the state representative told Pennsylvania Business Report. “That’s why I have authored House Bill 785 to make sure that the First Amendment rights of public employees, as established by the decision, will not be violated.”
Her proposed legislation aligns with the Supreme Court’s ruling in AFSCME v. Janus by ensuring that the state’s public sector workers know that fair share fees no longer are mandatory, that union membership and dues payment is not a condition of their employment, and that they have the freedom of speech to support the political causes they choose — not those chosen by their union, the lawmaker explained.
“Specifically, my bill directs public sector employers to inform nonunion members of the Janus decision and that the once required fees to the union are now purely voluntary,” Rep. Klunk said. “These workers will also be informed that their employment status will not be affected by their decision.”
HB 785 also would require that applicants for all government union jobs receive similar notification that membership in the union is not a condition of employment, she said.
“With this information, nonunion workers are given the freedom to choose whether they want to support a union’s political activity,” Klunk added.
Klunk also said she believes the most important aspect of the Janus decision is that the High Court made its ruling based on the First Amendment.
“It ruled that government unions engage in political activity when they bargain over how public resources will be used, and that taking money from workers who did not affirmatively consent to fund this political activity violates their constitutional rights,” she said.
If enacted, HB 785 also would stipulate that employees be alerted within 30 days of the bill becoming law and annually each January of their right not to have to pay union fair share fees.
Pennsylvania Business Report asked the lawmaker why she thinks it’s still important for unions to protect both union and nonunion workers if nonunion workers would no longer have to pay fair share fees.
“The government workers impacted by the Janus decision had no choice but to join the union when they started their career or pay fair share fees if they chose not to join the union,” she answered. “These workers are public school teachers, municipal employees, county employees, state employees, etc. If public sector unions truly care about government workers and their rights, these unions should be supportive of ALL workers knowing their rights — union and nonunion.”
With a similar bill to HB 785 pending in the Pennsylvania State Senate, Klunk said she’d like to see the measure pass both houses and get signed into law.
“And that is actually what I believe will happen,” she added. “The highest court in the land made its ruling and we have a responsibility to let our government employees know their full rights.”