The Right to Work Committee, based in Virginia, has sued the California Faculty Association alleging that the CFA has been using non-member agency funds for political action.
“Money coming from non-members is not spent on politics,” CFA Communications Director Alice Sunshine said. “We think that this is a frivolous lawsuit, trying to prevent teachers from speaking out about propositions 74, 75 and 76, which are bad for education.”
CFA members pay annual dues, which are used on matters concerning the union as well as collective bargaining agreements. These dictate salaries and contractual stipulations for teachers.
California teachers are not required to join the union, but those who do not join are required to pay agency fees, which help finance collective bargaining agreements that benefit all California teachers.
“They are trying to stop teachers from sending money in order to communicate on political issues,” Sunshine said.
Sunshine said that The Right to Work Committee is a corporate-funded entity that claims to support workers, but is working for its own agenda.
“Some people don’t agree with the union speaking on politics, but most people do think that the union should speak on politics,” Sunshine said.
Proposition 76 would take away $4 billion from public schools, and allow the governor to freely cut schools and state universities, according to a CFA press release.
Proposition 75 would prevent publicly funded entities from speaking out against budget cuts, specifically among teachers, nurses, firefighter and police, according to the CFA.