Robert Alt, president of The Buckeye Institute, speaking about the Friedrichs case on the steps of U.S. Supreme Court.

Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, spoke on the U.S. Supreme Court steps today following oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that could end the practice of forcing non-union members to pay fees to public sector unions.

Alt said: “Today’s case is about securing the First Amendment rights for all public employees. It is about not being forced to pay for political speech with which you disagree. And, make no mistake, collective bargaining speech for public sector unions is political speech.”

“For example, in Ohio, the unions negotiated to decide layoff decisions by a coin flip, instead of merit, which is of course blatantly unfair to good teachers and to their students.”

A decision is expected in June.

Alt wrote an amicus brief in September for The Buckeye Institute in support of Rebecca Friedrichs and nine other California teachers who want to stop paying fees to have the union bargain for them.

Alt also published six articles on the Friedrichs caseover the last week on National Review‘s Bench Memos blog.  

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A Response to Justice Kagan: Ending Agency Fees Won’t End Unions (Part 2)

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