The Alabama Education Association is suing Governor Robert Bentley over legislation that his predecessor pushed through the legislature in an effort to cripple the union’s political activity.

 

In December, lame-duck GOP Governor Richard Riley called the Republican-dominated legislature into special session to adopt “ethics reforms” which included a bill that prohibited teachers from allowing automatic payroll deductions for union dues and made union members criminally liable if such dues or PAC contributions are used for political purposes.

 

In its lawsuit, the education employees union says Riley wanted the legislation passed “for the purpose of harming and retaliation against an employee organization because of its constitutionally protected advocacy regarding issues and candidates.” The purpose of the new law was “to silence political opposition.”

 

Alabama has not been a union-friendly state. Like other states in the South, it does not allow public employees to bargain collectively. Currently, the Alabama Education Association provides liability insurance as an incentive for teachers and others to join the union. However, when the Alabama state legislature reconvenes today, Republican leaders will propose that the state pay for such insurance as a way to lure teachers away from the union.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

State's Teachers Call New Law Unconstitutional Political Attack (by Robert Kahn, Courthouse News Service)

Alabama Education Association v. Robert Bentley (U.S. District Court, Northern Alabama) (pdf)

Collective Bargaining for State Workers Has Faded in the South (by Emily Wagster Pettus and Erik Schelzig, Associated Press)