Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The larger principle underlying the Supreme Court’s decision in  Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31  is this:  To compel people to give money to a cause of which they disapprove is the very definition of tyranny. The court decision ending the automatic deduction of union dues from employee paychecks naturally did not go down well with unions. Recently, the town of Vernon bumped heads with union honchos. Administrator for the Town of Vernon Michael Purcaro has said that ending automatic union dues deductions protects the town, taxpayers and employees from any legal issues in the wake of the  Janus  decision. The town, attempting to bring itself into compliance with the  Janus  decision, ran afoul of AFSCME Council 4, according to a piece by Marc Fitch in  The Yankee Institute , a non-partisan Connecticut think tank.