Letter: Stockholder rights now being violated

The Supreme Court has agreed to revisit a previous ruling that allowed public employees to opt out of joining unions but agreed to charging them a "service fee" to cover the cost of negotiating with the employer. The Supreme Court in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education ruled in 1977 that a "fair share fee" was fair in that it covered the cost of negotiating.

A California teacher and others filed a suit alleging that their freedom of opinion (First Amendment) was being violated because the fee covers the cost of lobbying and political activity.

The unions consider that nonunion employees get negotiation and results for free and a fee is just. If the current Supreme Court rules to prevent "service fees," the impact to unions will be very significant. Membership in the unions will drop drastically.

If the court rules against the union, the unions and stockholders of public corporations should file suit to overturn "Citizens United," which allows unlimited corporate monies to be spent on political lobbying and campaigns. Corporate stockholders may not agree with the corporation's agenda of political contributions. Stockholders' First Amendment rights are currently being violated.

Philip W. Wolfe

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 9:36 PM with the headline "Letter: Stockholder rights now being violated."