Alaska Supreme Court rejects Dunleavy administration’s plan to change union dues rules

JUNEAU — The Alaska Supreme Court rejected plans by the Dunleavy administration to review public sector union membership rules in a unanimous decision issued Friday.

The court’s 24-page opinion said the administration’s interpretation of a landmark 2018 US Supreme Court decision limiting the collection of union dues was incorrect and that the state’s current procedures do not violate the members’ First Amendment rights.

The Alaska dispute stems from a 2019 legal opinion written by former state attorney general Kevin Clarkson and a subsequent administrative order issued by Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy to change state policy.

Dunleavy’s administration contacted state employees directly in 2019, informing them that they would need to fill out a form each year to tell the state that they wanted to join a union. The Alaska Supreme Court said it violated state law and the state’s collective bargaining agreements, describing “an anti-union animosity” behind the management’s actions.

In October 2019, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Gregory Miller temporarily halted the Dunleavy administration’s new union dues rules. Nearly 18 months later, Miller ruled against the state and in favor of the unions, a decision that was upheld Friday by the Alaska Supreme Court.

Currently in Alaska, union-eligible state employees can voluntarily decide to join a union and can opt out at any time. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the process was sufficient to comply with the Janus decision, after the administration of former independent Gov. Bill Walker made changes to prohibit the mandatory collection of union dues from nonmembers.

“We are excited. We are not surprised,” Heidi Drygas, executive director of the Alaska State Employees Association, said in an interview about the decision Friday. “We had a very strong opinion about our case, and the Supreme Court basically upheld it, quite forcefully.”

The 2018 Janus decision established that non-union state employees could not be required to pay fees to receive benefits negotiated by unions representing their co-workers. But like other courts across the country, the Alaska Supreme Court said Janus’s decision did not extend to requiring opt-in procedures for union members.

Currently in Alaska, union-eligible state employees can voluntarily decide to join their union and can opt out at any time. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the process was sufficient to comply with the Janus decision, after the administration of former independent Gov. Bill Walker made changes to prohibit the mandatory collection of union dues from nonmembers.

Through a prepared statement, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor said Friday that the case was about protecting the First Amendment rights of public sector employees. He suggested that the state would ask the US Supreme Court to hear the case.

“While the Alaska Supreme Court decision was disappointing, it was not surprising, as a clarification regarding the Janus the ultimate decision should come from the United States Supreme Court given its federal constitutional foundations,” Taylor said. “We are hopeful that we can get clear guidance from this court to make sure that the state’s action does not endanger individual liberties.”

The US Supreme Court has consistently denied appeals in recent years that have sought to expand the Janus decision to other labor and management issues.

National right-wing and anti-union advocacy groups supported the Dunleavy administration’s plans to revise state union membership requirements. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which was a group behind the Janus decision, encouraged other state attorneys general to follow the Dunleavy administration’s lead.

Jacob Comello, a spokesman for the National Right to Work Foundation, said in an emailed statement Friday that Clarkson and Dunleavy appeared to have a better understanding of First Amendment protections for union members than the U.S. Supreme Court. Alaska. He added that “the decision to pay the fees must be left in the hands of the workers who are fully informed of their Janus human rights, not concerned union officials.”

Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, said Friday’s opinion was “a great decision” by the state supreme court. State employees and teachers have reported receiving emails from outside groups encouraging them to leave their unions, she said, adding: “It’s an upsetting result of Janus, that we have to constantly push these people.”

The Alaska Supreme Court found the state liable for damages and attorneys’ fees from the Alaska State Employees Association. Drygas said the union’s costs were expected to exceed $430,000, which does not include the state’s attorney’s fees and the contract, worth more than $500,000, that the state signed with a conservative-leaning law firm with based in Virginia to help with the case. .

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