Belhumeur v. Labor Relations Commission

The plaintiff teachers have challenged the amount and validity of the agency service fees charged to them by the unions that represent them for collective bargaining purposes. This appeal relates to one aspect of that challenge. We allowed the plaintiffs’ petition for direct appellate review.

Each plaintiff argues, as a nonunion member obliged to pay a “service fee” (G. L. c. 150E, § 12 [1990 ed.]), that his or her First Amendment rights have been violated because no independent auditor has certified to the correctness of the allocation of chargeable and nonchargeable expenses, on the basis of…