Gov. Mike Dunleavy has once again asked the U.S. Supreme Court for special treatment.
In a news release on Wednesday, the Dunleavy administration announced it’s asking for the U.S. Supreme Court to take a direct appeal of a ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court that found the Dunleavy violated a litany of labor laws when it unilaterally interfered with the collection of public union dues early in his first term.
In the announcement, Dunleavy claims his administration’s attempts to alter how public sector union dues are collected radically are an effort to protect employees’ First Amendment rights rather than the attack on public unions that most, including the courts, have accused him of. His administration argues that the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus—explicitly dealing with collecting union dues from non-union public employees—means public employees must be regularly reminded that they don’t have to be part of a union.
In an effort spearheaded by then-Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka—who later unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate—the state set about halting the collection of some union dues, ignoring that collective bargaining contracts already contain specific opt-out periods.
“Before we take any money from the paychecks of state employees, we need to ensure
that the employees were properly advised of their rights and consented to the
deduction,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “And if employees disagree with union
speech, they need to be given an opportunity to opt out. Our payroll system does not
adequately protect the constitutional rights of our employees and changes must be
made.”
The courts were harsh in assessing the governor’s actions, finding the administration violated several labor laws, the collective bargaining contract with unions, and affirmed a nearly half-million dollar award to the Alaska State Employees Association as part of the lawsuit. The Alaska Supreme Court also found “abundant evidence of anti-union animus” driving his actions.
While the governor claims that the First Amendment rights of public employees are driving his effort to undermine public unions, he doesn’t exactly have a sterling record regarding the free speech rights of public employees.
In a separate case, a federal judge ruled Dunleavy’s loyalty pledge firings—which required non-union public employees to sign onto Dunleavy’s political agenda if they wanted to keep their jobs when he was inaugurated—was such a severe violation of their First Amendment rights that he could be held personally responsible. The governor was spared from having to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars when the Department of Law settled the case, leaving the state on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
AFL-CIO President Joelle Hall denounced the appeal, questioning the governor’s priorities in a week that included the revelation state employees could go unpaid because of critical understaffing problems at the state’s payroll department.
“Instead of working to improve outcomes in public schools or building critical infrastructure, Dunleavy is continuing to squander state resources on a flawed special interest campaign that has already failed at every judicial level in Alaska,” Hall said in a prepared statement. “Does the governor really think questioning the competence of employees who choose to join the union is the best path forward? Public employees are tired of being attacked by the governor while simultaneously attempting to keep the State of Alaska Open for business. Just because Dunleavy does not like the way state workers use their First Amendment right does not give him the authority to take it away.”
It’s an uncertain path ahead for the governor’s direct appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Legal observers note that it’s extraordinarily rare for the court to take up such appeals, suggesting that the move is little more than a public relations maneuver to whip up manufactured outrage against public unions.
He also asked to skip the line to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, asking it to overturn the EPA’s veto of the profoundly unpopular Pebble Mine project in a move that legal observers said was extraordinarily unusual. Dunleavy is one of the few elected officials in Alaska to support the mine.
He’s also accused of steering other state money toward private mining projects.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.