Report: State will come into compliance with Janus court decision

• News Home
• More from News of the North

Tuesday, August 27th, 2019 6:35pm

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Messenger
• Share on Messenger
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Whatsapp

Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson.

Anchorage, Alaska (KINY) - Attorney General Kevin Clarkson released a formal opinion on Tuesday arguing that the state is not in compliance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court that curtails public sector labor union's power to collect dues.

According to Alaska Policy Forum any action taken by the governor could affect 12,200 state employees.

In a story released Tuesday by KTUU-TV, during press teleconference on Tuesday, the attorney general explained the Department of Law's opinion, which found that requiring public employees to opt-out of paying union dues is a violation of First Amendment free speech protections.

The opinion is based on the Supreme Court case Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 which was released in late June of 2018 and overturned a 1977 decision.

Clarkson said that the state will be overseeing the process of negotiating union dues in order to ensure that unions are complying with the Supreme Court decision.

“Our conclusion is that the state has to be involved with that process,” he said.

This would mean that the state provides a regular “opt-in” period, during which all public union-eligible employees would be able to decide whether or not they “want to waive their First Amendment rights” by agreeing to automatic payroll deductions for union dues. This period would be annual, which the opinion says the governor could identify as “the appropriate amount of time.”

Labor unions were less excited about the decision. The Alaska AFL-CIO called the opinion "unnecessary and a clear overreach," in a press release. The union represents 60,000 workers in 50 affiliated unions.

AFL-CIO president Vince Beltrami said he thinks the governor is overreaching.

"His end goal is obvious; he’s attacking public workers to lower pay and benefits for every worker in Alaska, and to slash the services Alaskans count on," said Beltrami in the release.

More from News of the North

• House Hazardous Waste to close, reopen in new location

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - The City and Borough of Juneau will be closing the Household Hazardous Waste facility on Thursday, Oct. 29, for a couple of weeks.

• Unknown group sends Democratic voters intimidating emails

  Juneau, Alaska (AP) - Democratic voters in at least four battleground states including Florida and Pennsylvania received threatening emails, falsely purporting to be from the far-right group Proud Boys, that warned “we will come after you” if the recipients didn’t vote for President Donald Trump.

• Businesses and nonprofits lose appeal over CARES Act Funding

  Sitka, Alaska (KINY) - 11 businesses and nonprofits appealed to the City and Borough of Sitka Assembly to give them more money from the federal CARES Act Tuesday.

• Sitka gives passing grade to administrator

  Sitka, Alaska (KINY) - The Sitka Assembly held an executive session Tuesday night to work on the annual evaluation of City Administrator John Leach.

• Icy Strait Point project in Hoonah subject of Action Line discussion

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - The president and CEO of Huna Totem Corporation, the village native corporation for Hoonah, talked about their Icy Strait Point project while a guest on Action Line.

• Accused killer appears in court

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - William Warden, 37, hired a private attorney and had his case continued until 2021 when he appeared before Superior Court Judge Amy Mead Wednesday.

• Sen. Stedman says special session not happening

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Senator Bert Stedman said the 2021 legislative session will include a lot of talk on cuts to the state budget and work on the Alaska Marine Highway.

• Save the Seawolves

  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Supporters have started a fundraising drive to save the University of Alaska, Anchorage hockey team.

• Nonprofits have gender pay gap in Alaska

  Anchorage, Alaska (AP) - A new report tracking wages at nonprofit organizations in Alaska shows a gender pay gap.

• JPD makes sexual assault arrest

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Leo Fawcett, 44, was arrested overnight on a charge of sexual abuse of a minor in the first-degree.

• CBJ raises COVID-19 risk level to 'High'

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Due to increasing case positivity, the City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center is raising the overall community risk to Level 3-High with a full implementation of the Community Mitigation Strategies.

• Ketchikan EOC reports no new COVID-19 cases Tuesday

  Ketchikan, Alaska (KINY) - There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported in Ketchikan on Tuesday.