Supreme Court Asked if Unions Can Represent Nonmembers

A conservative advocacy group wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review lower court rulings that have upheld public sector unions’ authority to act on behalf of nonmembers.

The Dec. 4 petition comes one day after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court order in favor of exclusive representation.

The appeals court rejected the Buckeye Institute’s contention it was likely to succeed with its argument that forcing public sector workers to submit to union representation is a form of compelled speech that violates the First Amendment.

The free-market group’s argument relies on the Supreme Court’s ...