Columbus, OH – On Thursday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Goldstein v. Professional Staff Congress at City University of New York (PSC/CUNY), urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and end laws that mandate public-sector employees to accept union representation they neither requested nor desire.
“In Minnesota v. Knight, the court ruled that the government’s interest in orderliness in the collective bargaining process justified infringements on the First Amendment rights of public employees. ‘Labor peace’ they called it,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute. “While this interest might have been present in Knight, it is unclear how requiring Jewish professors to associate with a group whose statements they find antisemitic serves that interest.”
In its brief, The Buckeye Institute contends that “labor peace” should not compel Jewish professors to remain affiliated with a government union whose speech they find antisemitic. The institute further argues that laws enforcing exclusive union representation for public-sector employees conflict with First Amendment protections affirmed in Janus v. AFSCME and other decisions related to compelled speech and association.
Carson added, “This case provides the court with the opportunity to clarify Knight or overrule it entirely.”
Lawyers from the Fairness Center and National Right to Work represent the five professors involved in Goldstein v. PSC/CUNY.