This column is the second of a two-part series discussing recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions impacting labor and employment law. This month we review decisions that address two traditional labor issues: whether unions may collect fees from non-union members who they represent, and whether explicit language is needed in a collective bargaining agreement to vest retiree medical benefits beyond the term of the contract.

Agency Fees

In a 5-4 decision viewed as a serious blow to organized labor, the Supreme Court in Janus v. Am. Fed’n of State, Cnty. & Mun. Employees, Council 31, 138 S.Ct. 2448 (2018), ruled that public sector employees who opt not to join a labor union may not be required to pay mandatory fees to the union to cover the costs of collective bargaining. The decision bars public sector unions from collecting so-called “agency fees” or any other involuntary fee from employees who do not join the union but still benefit from the contracts negotiated on their behalf. The ruling directly overturned Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977), and four decades of precedent.