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Minneapolis

On the drive from the airport to downtown Minneapolis, where the National Education Association held its annual convention last week, cars passed a billboard that proclaimed it 鈥淭eachers鈥� Independence Day.鈥�

鈥淣o more forced union fees,鈥� said the billboard, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 recent decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 to prohibit the 鈥渁gency鈥� or 鈥渇air share鈥� fees that public-sector unions had been charging to nonmembers in 22 states.

The sign鈥攆unded by the Minnesota-based Center of the American Experiment, a conservative and free-market think tank, and aimed at getting teachers to drop out of the union鈥攚as an ominous backdrop for what would be a defiant meeting of 9,000 educators and union leaders in Minneapolis.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 give a damn about the Supreme Court decision,鈥� said Becky Pringle, the NEA vice president, to applause, during an open hearing on the association鈥檚 budget. She promised that the nation鈥檚 largest public-sector union would continue organizing and growing.

Still, reminders of the decision鈥檚 aftermath were everywhere. The NEA鈥檚 budget included a $50 million reduction and projected an over 10 percent membership loss over the next two years. Union leaders are simultaneously bracing for extensive messaging campaigns to convince teachers to drop their memberships and for lawsuits by teachers who want money back for the fees they鈥檝e paid in years past.

During the conference, NEA leaders spoke of strategies for both keeping members in the union and attracting educators. They brainstormed ways to gird the union against the financial blow of the Supreme Court decision. Speakers and delegates mentioned a 鈥減ost- Janus world鈥� so often that attendees joked on Twitter that it should be part of a drinking game, or at least a slot on a bingo card.

鈥淲e knew this was coming,鈥� said NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garc铆a in an interview. 鈥淪ince Friedrichs [the 2016 Supreme Court case on the same issue that deadlocked 4-4 after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia], we鈥檝e been doing membership drives of a very different nature all over the country, in all of our affiliates鈥攑erson-to-person, human contact, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 why I belong to the union; here鈥檚 why I鈥檓 proud of what we鈥檙e doing.鈥欌��

Those personal relationships, she said, will be key to curbing the anticipated loss of some 340,000 members out of 3 million. Before the Supreme Court decision, the NEA also had about 88,000 agency-fee payers this past year, about a third of whom were full-time equivalents.

The agency fees were used by unions to cover the cost of collective bargaining. Now, the union still must represent all teachers in a bargaining unit, regardless of whether they are members. Teachers now have the choice between paying hundreds of dollars for an annual membership or paying nothing at all, and still reaping many of the same benefits.

鈥淎 lot of those fee-payers, we鈥檙e not taking it for granted that they won鈥檛 be our future members,鈥� Eskelsen Garc铆a said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e actually sitting down, one fee-payer at a time, going, 鈥極n this day, you stopped paying fees. 鈥� What would it take to have you be a member? Because other people are paying for that [collective bargaining] service, and we need you to be a member not just to pay for that service, but to be a part of that greater voice.鈥欌��

鈥楢 Challenge and an Opportunity鈥�

During the conference, speakers both warned educators of the threats to come and relayed a defiant message of solidarity.

鈥淲e鈥檙e up against something pretty scary. Janus is the latest attack on our unions, but this ain鈥檛 our first rodeo,鈥� Eskelsen Garc铆a told delegates. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been under attack before. 鈥� We don鈥檛 get scared, we get ready.鈥�

Part of the NEA鈥檚 strategy, she said, is to team up with the three other major public-sector unions: the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, and the Service Employees International Union. The four unions will combine resources to organize and engage their members, she said.

As a signal of that partnership, AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFSCME President Lee Saunders both addressed the NEA delegates. (Eskelsen Garc铆a and the other union heads will also be at AFT鈥檚 biennial convention this weekend.)

鈥淭ogether, we can accomplish what is impossible for people to accomplish alone,鈥� Weingarten said, adding that the unions are 鈥渞eally big targets because the right wing and their allies want us gone. They know we are the only organized force that will challenge their power in politics and the economy. 鈥� Janus is both a challenge and an opportunity. As Lily just said, it has made us stick together like never before.鈥�

The conference was also happening in the aftermath of six statewide teacher strikes, walkouts, and large-scale demonstrations that took place this spring. That teacher activism, which was spurred on by low wages and cuts to school funding, energized the crowd. Many delegates sported buttons and T-shirts with the slogan 鈥淩ed for Ed,鈥� which had become a rallying cry for protesting educators in all of those states.

The NEA delegates voted on several proposals that sought to strengthen the union and support future activism. The most controversial measure was a proposal by NEA leaders to create a category of membership for community allies, or friends of public education. This would have allowed non-educators to donate to the NEA鈥檚 political action committee, which only members are allowed to do. The union would have also been able to communicate directly with those allies about political advocacy. While about 60 percent of delegates voted for the proposal, it fell short of the two-thirds majority vote needed to pass. NEA leaders have already resubmitted the proposal for next year鈥檚 representative assembly.

More Litigation to Come

As the conference was in its second day, seven teachers in California filed a class-action lawsuit seeking repayment of fees previously paid to their union. This case is the ninth lawsuit asking for back-fees that is pending against an NEA state affiliate. Maryland, Jersey, and Oklahoma are among the other state affiliates facing these suits.

鈥淭his lawsuit is rooted in correcting a significant injustice,鈥� John Bursch, the counsel to the California plaintiffs, said in a statement. 鈥淣ot only were teachers deprived of their First Amendment rights under the unconstitutional agency-fee arrangement, but thousands of dollars were taken from these teachers鈥� paychecks. This lawsuit seeks to recover the fees these hardworking teachers were forced to pay against their will.鈥�

The day before the suit was filed, Alice O鈥橞rien, the general counsel for the NEA, told delegates they had to be careful about the nomination of the next Supreme Court justice, because that person could be on a court that decides whether unions must repay agency fees that were collected before the Janus decision.

In an interview at the conference, she said she didn鈥檛 think the cases had any merit, since the union is in complete compliance with the Janus decision.

鈥淲e are confident the court ultimately will reject claims that people can go back in time,鈥� O鈥橞rien said. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 going to be a lot of litigation around it. Our opponents ... will continue to push these issues up to the Supreme Court.鈥�