A Pennsylvania union refunded more than $1,700 in membership dues to a liquor store clerk this week after he sued the organization over its resignation policy.
John Kabler joined the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1776 when he began working at a state-run Fine Wine & Good Spirits store in April 2017 after being told it was a condition of his employment.
More than a year later, Kabler said, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME – which determined that “fair share” dues and similar fees charged to employees working at organizations represented by public sector unions were unlawful – encouraged him to ask the UFCW to terminate his membership. The request went unfulfilled.
Instead, the union continued deducting dues from Kabler’s paycheck, citing a contract clause that gives members just 15 days prior to the end of the current collective bargaining agreement expiration to rescind their membership. The Janus ruling, UFCW contended, only applies to employees who opted out of joining – an option Kabler said he was never given.
“This is a victory for me,” Kabler said Wednesday. “Because of this lawsuit, I’m out of the union, the union has returned more than $1,700 in dues and interest, and the union abandoned the contract provision that trapped me and my fellow liquor store employees in membership.”
Nathan McGrath, vice president and director of litigation for The Fairness Center, said Kabler’s case “is particularly important” for dispelling the myth that public sector employees must join a union as a condition of employment. The Fairness Center represented Kabler in the federal lawsuit, filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in March 2019.
“John took a courageous stand against a powerful union that was determined to force him to pay union dues against his will,” McGrath said. “We’re thrilled that we were able to help John right this wrong and get the relief he was owed.”
The UFCW did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
