Union members can opt out of dues for religious reasons

Associated Press Staff Reports
OneNewsNow.com
July 1, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Roman Catholic teacher whose religious beliefs conflict with the political positions of her labor union cannot be forced to pay dues, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost's ruling broadens the category of employees who may opt out of unions because of religious beliefs beyond Seventh-day Adventists and Mennonites.

In his ruling last week, Frost struck down the Ohio law that held only members of religions that "historically held conscientious objections" to union membership could opt out. The judge said anyone with demonstrated religious beliefs should be exempt from paying dues to unions whose positions they find objectionable.

The law discriminated among religions by recognizing the Seventh-day Adventist and Mennonite objections to joining unions while denying the same right to others, the judge said.

The teacher, Carol Katter, refused to pay dues to the National Education Association, claiming she opposes abortion and that view is conflict with the union's position on the issue. She sued the State Employment Relations Board after the panel ruled against her claim for a religious exemption.

The National Right to Work Foundation, which opposes mandatory union membership, funded Katter's legal fight.

"I was not going to give 1 cent to those causes," said Katter, who teaches at St. Marys in western Ohio.

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