The Weekly Fix: No Membership Required

The fix is in. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) illegally coerced $32 million in union dues out of caregivers and home health aides in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas. Those victimized in the scheme are petitioning the Supreme Court to get their money back.

According to the Free Beacon, a group of home caregivers (many caring for sick relatives full-time) were forced to pay SEIU fees, despite the fact that the union didn’t work on their behalf. The caregivers’ reimbursement rates were determined by Medicaid, not SEIU bargaining.

In 2014, this injustice was partially corrected when the Supreme Court ruled that home caregivers are not public employees, and therefore did not have to pay the union fees. However, the courts stopped short of ordering the SEIU to pay back the illegally-seized wages.

The group of caregiving victims tried to recover their lost wages again in 2016, but an Obama-appointed Illinois federal judge ruled against them. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.

Now, the victims are petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn the decisions of the lower courts, and the court should rule in their favor. These victims deserve to get their money back. Medicaid was created to care for the elderly and disabled, not to pad the pockets of union bosses.

For as long as unions like the SEIU continue to cook up illegal fee schemes, Americans should have a legal path to recovering those stolen wages. Otherwise, unions will continue making up ways to steal other people’s money until the government gently tells them to take their loot and go home.

It’s time to take a stand. The American people aren’t being heard by their representatives because the game is rigged. Government isn’t broken. It’s “fixed.”