Photo: Arizona Supreme Court
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that allowing government employees to take paid time to take care of union-related activities is against the constitution’s gift clause.
In Gilmore v. Gallego determined that “release time” as part of a Memorandum of Understanding between the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees and the city is an incorrect use of taxpayer dollars.
“The MOU’s release time provisions cost the City approximately $499,000 per year,” the court’s unanimous opinion stated. Four employees that were paid full-time by the city were “paid release positions for Union members, including the Union President.”
“As a standalone contract between the Union and the City, the release time provisions here would plainly violate the Gift Clause for lack of consideration; including them as part of a larger contract does not insulate them from review,” the court added.
The conservative Goldwater Institute said the ruling was a step in the right direction.
“Today’s ruling is a watershed decision that ensures taxpayer dollars will be spent to advance public interests, not private special interests, including the politically powerful special interests of government labor unions. And that will have nationwide ramifications, too,” the institute said in a news release.
2 thoughts on “Arizona Supreme Court unanimously rules against unions in labor suit – The Center Square”
Unions, in my opinion, do nothing more than create an adversarial relationship between employer and employee; haw can anything good come from this?
I am a union man through and through. I’m a shop Steward and make great money and have incredible benefits thanks to my union. But, using tax money to pay someone to work for the union full time is not right. If it’s day to day stuff they are doing for the union (i.e. shop steward representing employee) then that should be period for by the government. But to lower the cost of labor for your union and pass it on to the tax payer is not right. I think the court got it right. Use your members union dues to pay for the unions labor costs. Don’t force everyone to do it.
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