Thanks to NRTW Attorneys, Court Halts Childcare Scheme

Federal Appeals Court Rules to Halt Implementation of Minnesota’s Childcare Unionization Scheme

Childcare providers fight dictate to push them into forced union dues ranks

Minneapolis, MN (September 19, 2013) – Today, a federal appeals court ruled to delay implementation of Minnesota’s new law that seeks to forcibly unionize the state’s home-based childcare providers.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Jennifer Parrish from Rochester and 11 other providers from around the state filed an appeal last month after the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota dismissed their lawsuit on the grounds that it was filed too soon.

Parrish and other providers seek to halt implementation of a recently-passed law intended to designate American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) officials as the monopoly political representative of thousands of providers in the state, who are either owners of childcare businesses or family members who take care of related children.

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Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement on the appeals court ruling:

“Minnesota’s childcare providers are no longer under imminent threat to be forcibly unionized in a union want nothing to do with.

“The court ruled to delay implementation of the law pending the outcome of a National Right to Work Foundation-led challenge pending at the U.S. Supreme Court of a similar law passed in Illinois.”

Home-based childcare and personal care providers have challenged similar forced-unionization-by-government-fiat schemes in several states across the country. Foundation attorneys argue that such schemes violate the providers’ First Amendment right to choose with whom they associate to petition the government.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, is assisting thousands of employees in nearly 200 cases nationwide. Its web address is www.nrtw.org.