APNEWSBREAK: State to divert 'fair share' fees from unions

[Midnight Writer]

4. Union has no choice in defending non-union workers

I was a union steward in an open shop for nearly 30 years. I was warned repeatedly that I had to defend non-union (read Free Riders) as vigorously as dues paying union members, or the union and myself personally could face a lawsuit. I had many non-union Free Riders remind me of that, and I was threatened with lawsuits more than once by non-union folk that I defended again and again.

Our local union often refused to reimburse me for my actions in defending Free Riders, so I worked on my own dime, especially in cases that a worker was really being screwed over by management. Typically, workers in trouble were repeat offenders, and I spent most of my time defending the same Free Riders over and over again. But even if I saved their sorry asses from the unemployment line, these were the folks who refused to pay dues and were most critical of the union (and me).

The national union paid for drug and alcohol counseling, stints in rehab, marriage counseling, psychiatric evaluations and treatment, and physical evaluations and treatment, all without collecting a penny from these Free Riders. And as you may have guessed, these people were conservative Reagan devotees who opposed unions because "everyone needs to stand on their own two feet".