Great Appeals Court decision dismissing challenge to exclusive representation

The following arrived this morning from SEIU.It's very good news in a Friedrichs atmosphere!

On Friday the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals issued a great unanimous decision (attached) rejecting a Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation challenge to the Massachusetts statute that allows Local 509 to exclusively represent family child care providers.

The decision in D'Agostino v. Patrick is the first appeals court decision in the country to address the theory that even in the absence of fair share fees, the union's role as exclusive representative violates non-members' First Amendment rights. It will be a great step towards defeating the claim in the other cases where it has been raised. Adding to its power is the fact that it was written by former Supreme Court Justice Souter, who was sitting as a judge 1st Circuit on a temporary basis, and signed by two other judges appointed by Presidents Clinton and Reagan.

The decision dismisses the challenge to exclusive representation on the basis of Supreme Court precedent and rejects the argument that those decisions were undermined by Harris v. Quinn. It also makes short order of the plaintiffs' argument that the union's duty of fair representation creates a "fiduciary" relationship between the union and the workers it represents which violates the non-members' First Amendment Rights. Justice Souter wrote that it was "not the presence but the absence" of a DFR that might raise constitutional issues.

Please let us know if you have any questions about this. Thank you,

See the attached decision.