Supreme Court ruling on public union dues hits Minnesota labor groups

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that public employees who don’t join unions can’t be required to pay for collective bargaining hit hard in Minnesota, a state whose Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has long counted on organized labor as its most powerful ally.

The 5-4 ruling brought sharply different reactions, with Republican officials and conservative groups jubilant at what they called a victory for individual freedom and a blow to the power of unions in state politics. DFLers and labor leaders blasted the decision as a major setback for workers and decades of union organizing around workplace issues. They also said it’s not fair that employees opting out of union dues will continue to benefit from collective bargaining.

http://www.startribune.com/court-ruling-on-public-unions-splits-minnesota-leaders/486703971/