NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WRKN) — A three-judge panel has temporarily blocked a law prohibiting payroll deductions for union dues for teachers from going into effect Saturday.
Chancellor Anne C. Martin, along with Judge A. Blake Neill and Chancellor Pamela A. Fleenor, said granting the temporary restraining order (TRO) of what Gov. Bill Lee calls the "Teacher Paycheck Protection Act," which, in addition to gradually raising the minimum teacher salary in Tennessee to $50,000, also prohibits from deducting dues for "professional organizations" from their paychecks.
The bill was passed by the legislature in April and signed into law in May. It was set to take effect Saturday, July 1.
However, the Tennessee Education Association (TEA), as well as several local education associations statewide, sued over the law in Davidson County Chancery Court, calling it unconstitutional.
Specifically, the TEA said the law did four things:
- The inclusion of the payroll dues deduction ban with the bill’s pay-raise provision violates the single-subject requirement of the state constitution.
- The bill’s caption did not cover the payroll deduction ban.
- The caption failed to disclose that the Act amends PECCA (the Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act, the state’s negotiation law) and repeals the PECCA provision allowing dues deductions to be negotiated and included in binding MOUs between school districts and professional teachers’ organizations.
- The bill negates current MOUs with local associations and violates thousands of individual membership agreements where educators signed up for payroll dues deduction voluntarily offered by their school system.
"Sliding a payroll dues deduction ban in a bill to raise the minimum pay was a cynical attack on Tennessee teachers," said TEA President Tanya Coates. "The ban was mean-spirited, and the way it passed was unconstitutional. We filed this suit to protect the rights of our members and highlight the missteps made by the administration when they pushed this attack on teachers. We look forward to our day in court."
According to TEA, thousands of voluntary members of its organization signed up for payroll deduction for dues, and banning that practice after the fact unconstitutionally interfered with their membership agreements, jeopardizing their services and benefits.
In its decision granting the TRO, the panel said it would not harm or prejudice the state and would maintain the status quo while allowing both sides to continue arguing their case in court.
The panel also set a hearing date for Thursday, July 13, via Zoom.
While also keeping the payroll deduction ban from going into effect, the TRO also halts the implementation of the $42,000 minimum salary for teachers in the 2023-2024 school year for now. The current base salary in Tennessee is $40,000.
The TEA declined to comment on the litigation until the July 13 hearing.
from WKRN News 2 https://ift.tt/x8tareR
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