LONG, HARD SLOG: Janus Case Only Beginning for Forced-Dues Fights. “Labor watchdogs expect unions to continue collecting from unwilling members.”

Ron Conwell expected to sever his ties to the National Education Association after Gov. Rick Snyder enacted right to work in 2013. One of the first things the Army veteran had to do when he took a job as a teacher in 2001 was sign up for the local union. He grew up in a union household, the son of a UAW-member father. The idea of automatically signing up, rather than opting in, rubbed him the wrong way.

“I would have rather researched it first because I didn’t want my voice commandeered,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with a local union—it makes sense for a group of people to get together and take a collaborative approach to negotiating, but I found some of the things contrary to my fundamental beliefs.”

He vowed to withdraw his financial support of the union upon the enactment of labor reforms but claims in a lawsuit that he has been blocked from doing so by the union. The Clarkston chapter of the NEA and school district negotiated the extension of mandatory agency fee payments until 2016—even after the original contract expired in 2014. Right-to-work laws allow the enforcement of forced-dues clauses negotiated prior to their enactment, but workers should be allowed to opt-out as soon as existing contracts expire. Conwell said the union’s use of extensions violates his rights as a worker.

“It was all a concerted effort on their part to maintain their membership even after right to work. It was very disheartening for me as someone looking to exercise my rights,” he said. “They’ve shown a dogged resistance to accepting the law.”

The state teachers’ union did not respond to request for comment.

Other states have seen similar instances of unions attempting to undermine worker opt-out clauses in the wake of legislative labor reforms or adverse court rulings.

Where’s DOJ on this?