Another win for the little guy!

[Belsnickel]

Unfortunately, this is another major wound to unions in this country. It is unfortunate because a unionized workforce correlates to a stronger middle-class, so this will likely just be one more nail in the coffin of the working people in the US. This doesn't mean I disagree with the ruling, I think free association is an important right, it's just a matter of the difficulty in overcoming the free rider problem with labor organization and how to be effective moving forward. As a public employee in a state with no public sector union to represent us, I can tell you how much of the shaft we get.

Right-to-work laws, and this decision is in line with those, kill unions. They remove the ability to unionize from those that wish to do so because of that free rider problem. I only hope that recent teacher strikes can serve as an example to others that we can organize for our benefit without the structure of the union. I say this because I fear that with the death of unions, many of the things that they have gained for us over the decades may be the target of reversals as the elected officials that are supposed to be representing us more often represent the interests of corporations who see those improvements as being against their best interests.