Hudson rights are important to Illinois government employees, because under state labor law unions are entitled to collect union dues – or their functional equivalent – from every worker they represent, even if the employee does not support the union. Hudson rights mitigate the harm done by forced dues, allowing workers to opt out of paying for union activities that go beyond basic workplace representation: union politics in particular. Instead of paying full union dues, workers who invoke Hudson rights pay reduced dues that represent their share of the costs of collective bargaining.
Hudson rights arose as part of a long string of Supreme Court cases, and were a result of the attempt to balance labor laws allowing for forced dues against fundamental rights of speech and association enshrined in the First Amendment. Since establishing Hudson rights, the Supreme Court has refined the process, and also expressed concerns that Hudson rights might not go far enough to protect workers’ First Amendment rights.
The process for a worker to invoke his or her Hudson rights is fairly straightforward: the worker should resign from the union. At that point the worker becomes an “agency fee” payer. Then the worker can invoke his or her Hudson rights by informing the union of the worker’s intent to limit agency fees to a pro-rata share of the costs of representation. A worker may take both steps – resigning membership and invoking Hudson rights – simultaneously.
The Hudson process has its share of pitfalls: employers may be unfamiliar with Hudson rights, and union officials may attempt to hinder or confuse Hudson objectors.
Even if union officials are cooperative, the procedures involved in enforcing Hudson rights have severe shortcomings, meaning that Hudson objectors are still likely to be paying more to unions than they ought to be paying. Improving protection for Hudson objectors is an area of labor law that needs immediate attention. If the General Assembly is unwilling to act to protect workers’ First Amendment rights, the Illinois Labor Relations Board and Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board should act to draw clearer lines about what Hudson objectors can be charged for, and subject union records to closer scrutiny.
If you want more information about your rights, here are some groups that can help.