Does Phoenix force employees to pay for unions? Goldwater Institute lawsuit says yes

Two Phoenix employees are taking the city to court, claiming it is forcing them to pay for their coworkers to engage in union activities. 

Employees Mark Gilmore and Mark Harder, backed by the conservative think tank Goldwater Institute, filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on Tuesday calling into question a common practice called "release time," which allows union members to take paid time off work for union-related activities like recruitment and lobbying.

Phoenix has numerous unions that negotiate employment contracts on behalf of employees. Membership in those unions is optional, under Arizona's right-to-work laws. 

Gilmore and Harder, mechanics for the Public Works Department, are not members of their city union — American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 2384. In their lawsuit, they said they are still forced to pay for union activities through the "release time" provision of their employment contract. 

They allege the "release time" practice violates their First Amendment rights and Arizona's right-to-work laws.

What is 'release time'?

In some employment contracts, government unions negotiate for "release time" for employees, which allows them to leave work for union activities like lobbying and negotiating contracts.

The city still pays these employees their regular wages and benefits for those times.

In its current contract, AFSCME Local 2384 has four full-time release positions. This means that four city employees do not actually work their government job, but instead work full-time for the union. The contract also has a bank of release hours for other union employees to take time off work for union activities. 

In the lawsuit, Gilmore and Harder argue that by paying these employees their government salary even though they are working for the union, the city is effectively taking money dedicated for government salaries, like their own, and funneling it to the union — which they do not agree with.

"(The city is saying), 'we're taking some of your compensation and we're using it to pay for these full-time union employees,'" Goldwater Institute attorney Jon Riches said. 

First Amendment violation?

Riches said that "release time" practices, which are common in government union contracts across the county, violate employees' First Amendment rights because they force all employees — even the ones who aren't union members — to give up some of their compensation to pay the salaries of employees participating in union activities.

"The government can't compel individuals to support views that they don't want to support," Riches said. "Government entities have been warned time and time again that you can't do this." 

Phoenix and AFSCME Local 2384 officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Reach the reporter at jessica.boehm@gannett.com or 480-694-1823. Follow her on Twitter @jboehm_NEWS. 

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