Harrison v. Massachusetts Society of Professors/Faculty Staff Union/MTA/NEA

In 1983, the plaintiffs, members of the same collective bargaining unit, commenced an action in the Superior Court for declaratory relief against the Massachusetts Society of Professors/Facuity Staff Union/MTA/NEA (union) and the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts (trustees), challenging the requirement contained in the collective bargaining agreement (agreement) that the plaintiffs join the union or, in the alternative, pay an agency service fee or obtain a waiver of that fee.3

The parties’ statement of agreed facts indicates that, since 1978, the union and the trustees have…