Pro-public employee union bill sails through the Oregon Senate

One of the highest priority bills for Oregon’s public employee unions sailed through the Senate Thursday on a party-line 17-to-11 vote after lawmakers pruned language that would have overridden public records laws in the name of protecting unions.

But House Bill 2016 is still a victory for public employee unions, which looked to Democrats to provide damage control and additional protections for workplace organizing in the wake of last year’s U.S. Supreme ruling in Janus vs. AFSCME.

In the Janus case, the court ruled that public employees cannot be compelled to pay union dues or fees if they opt out of membership. Prior to that ruling, employees opting out of membership were still required to pay “fair share fees” to cover collective bargaining activities.

The court found that requirement violated employees’ First Amendment rights and many observers concluded that the decision could be an existential threat to unions by undermining their finances.

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/06/pro-public-employee-union-bill-sails-through-the-oregon-senate.html