Fixing the Union Exit Trap: The Truth About HB 293 and Worker Rights
The U. S. Supreme Court affirmed in the 2018 landmark decision Janus v. AFSCME that the First Amendment guarantees the right of a worker to pay-or not pay-a union. In the opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “We do know…that prominent members of the founding generation condemned laws requiring public employees to affirm or support beliefs with which they disagreed…Jefferson denounced compelled support for such beliefs as ‘sinful and tyrannical’”.
Unfortunately for many public employees in Louisiana who join a union, restrictive drop windows force members to subsidize speech with which they disagree even after they wish to resign. HB 293, by Rep. Michael Melerine, addresses this problem by allowing public employees to resign their union membership and cease paying dues at any time. Importantly, Rep. Melerine’s bill does not interfere with existing collective bargaining contracts. The bill was reported favorably by the House Labor and Commerce Committee on April 24, 2025.
A similar bill was considered last year, and the Pelican Institute predicted that union leadership would resort to myths and hyperbole about the extent of the problem the bill sought to address. Those same detractors are back again this year, so it’s time to set the record straight about resigning from a government union and ceasing dues payments.
Of the six parishes with collective bargaining agreements, only St. Tammany allows its members to resign and stop paying dues at any time. Members in St. John Parish must resign before September 1 to stop paying dues.[1] In Vermilion Parish, the drop date is August 1.[2]
What if a Louisiana teacher in one of these parishes does not wish to support their union’s political activities, such as the conflicting positions Louisiana Federation of Teachers and its local affiliates took on Constitutional Amendment 2 on the March 2025 ballot? What if a teacher’s financial situation changes mid-year and wants to pay for groceries instead of union dues? Or, what if he or she no longer wishes to be a member? Union members in these parishes are stuck paying dues for another year under these agreements. Janus is not satisfied if members are required to pay for one more day of speech with which they disagree.
But what about members who belong to the Louisiana Association of Educators or Louisiana Federation of Teachers who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement? Dr. Tia Mills, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, testified that “LAE is committed to allow members to add and drop as they see fit.”
The terms and conditions on the LAE’s membership signup tell a different story. Potential members must agree to pay dues for the membership year, which runs from September 1 to August 31, unless they notify the union that they wish to cancel their payments “between August 1 and August 31 of the membership year immediately preceding the membership year in which they payments are to be cancelled.” In other words, a member can resign their membership, but he or she will still be on the hook for dues payments for the remainder of the year.[3]
HB 293 is a commonsense reform that empowers government workers by giving them more control over their paychecks. The people we trust to provide valuable public services should be given the same trust when it comes to their paychecks.
