Massachusetts, Rhode Island Back Public Employee Unions in Post-Janus World

Massachusetts and Rhode Island lawmakers took decisive action to lessen the impact of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME. The new laws provide greater protections for unions and their members, and it’s thanks, in no small part, to IBEW efforts.

In Massachusetts, both the House and Senate overrode Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of a bill that allows unions to collect “reasonable fees,” such as charging nonmembers for representation during arbitration and grievance hearings. The vote was 154-1 in the House and 39-1 in the Senate. The House and Senate had passed the bill last summer.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo signed a law helping unions post-Janus. Her Massachusetts counterpart Gov. Charlie Baker had his veto overridden.

Federal law requires unions to provide those services to workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement even if they refuse to join the local union. But until this year, no state has moved to eliminate nonmembers’ ability to free-ride on the services paid for by members of the union.

Among those voting “yes” was Sen. Paul Feeney, a member of Boston Local 2222, who called it “our best solution post-Janus.”

Similar legislation was passed in Rhode Island, giving unions and their members there more avenues to deal with the Janus decision. That 5-4 ruling, which reversed more than 40 years of precedent, allows public-sector workers to opt out of paying union dues, even when they benefit from a collectively bargained contract.