Unions Have No Right to Force Non-Members to Pay for Political Campaigns
June 14, 2007

Irvine, CA--On Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Davenport v. Washington Education Association and determined that the First Amendment prohibits public-sector unions from using objecting non-members' fees for ideological purposes such as election campaigns.

According to Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, the U.S. Supreme Court is right: "Unions have no moral or constitutional right to use the fees paid by non-union members in order to promote the unions' political agendas.

"Labor unions have a First Amendment right to freely speak on behalf of their members. They have no right, however, to force non-members to finance their speech.

"There is no such thing as a 'right' to take away someone's property without his or her consent--for whatever purpose. And this is a crucial principle that the U.S. Supreme Court should defend more consistently."

### ### ###