It’s disgusting the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Janus regarding paying union dues. But it’s really not surprising given the tilt of the political makeup of the court. For anyone who wants to live in the “clouds” and believe our court systems are not biased is living in a fantasy land.
America, I learned growing up, is supposed to be a land of freedom and democracy. The Republican Party for years now has bullied the American public into “their way or the highway.” One of their agendas has been (and continues to be) breaking up unions. They may say otherwise, but the reality is that’s the truth.
So how does this relate to Janus? Simple — Mr. Janus chose to work at a job which the majority of employees (past and present) voted to have representation and unionize. That’s called a democracy. Nobody made or forced Mr. Janus, or anyone else to work for a union-represented workforce. There are plenty of non-represented jobs out there, if that’s what works for you — it’s America, after all. It’s even more troubling that part of the decision is the employee who “opts out” of paying dues still gets to enjoy the benefits negotiated by the union. Talk about freeloading. Isn’t that the Republican cry regarding Democrats and their liberal views?
So, for Mr. Janus — the US Supreme Court, and now the state of Alaska to say that someone’s free speech is being imposed on because they don’t agree with how their Union has chose to use dues is nothing more than hogwash. It’s called Democracy and the members have agreed by voting who they elect and how their dues are spent. It should be no surprise that not every union member all vote the same — but, at the end of the day it’s a democracy so the majority wins. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work in America?
To Mr. Janus, the U.S. Supreme Court, Gov Dunleavy and any others who don’t agree with this — quit trying to impose your beliefs and values on Americans who have voted and agreed to work with union representation. If you don’t want it, then find another job; it’s really that easy. It’s America — you are free to move about the country and be all you can be wherever you want. The real problem is unions provide a strong-bodied workforce that can stand up to being bullied; otherwise you stand alone because management rarely if ever will back an employee. I’ve been on both sides of the fence and I will never work in a non-represented workforce again.
— Don Tallman
Eagle River
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