FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    CONTACT:    Eric Christensen

            October 27, 2005                                                        703-554-6100

                                                                                                703-554-6119 (fax)

                                                                                                eric@landmarklegal.org

                                                                                                www.landmarklegal.org

 

 

 

 

LANDMARK FORCES CALIFORNIA TEACHERS UNION

TO REFUND POLITICAL FUNDS TO TEACHERS

 

 

            (LEESBURG, VA)…Landmark Legal Foundation won a significant victory recently when it forced the California Teachers Union (CTA) to offer full refunds to nonunion, fee paying teachers for a special $60 per teacher assessment that the union is using to fund a $50 million campaign to defeat ballot initiatives in the November 5 special election.

 

            Landmark filed a complaint on September 14 with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) documenting how the union’s special assessment would be used to retire a $50 million debt amassed for the sole purpose of financing a campaign to defeat initiatives 75, 76 and others on the November ballot.  Under state law, teachers who are not members of the union, but who are required to pay a fee for collective bargaining representation, are allowed to seek a refund of any part of their fee used for political purposes.  After Landmark filed its complaint, the CTA notified nonmember teachers that the full $60 surcharge will be refunded to all fee payers who request it by November 15, 2005.

 

            “Non-CTA teachers who had no say in deciding the union’s positions on these ballot initiatives shouldn’t be made to pay for the union’s campaign against them,” said Mark R. Levin, Landmark’s president.  “Calling this assessment ‘debt retirement’ for a debt that is being used exclusively for political activity wouldn’t pass the smell test, and the union leadership knew it.  They made the refund offer because they simply had no choice.  Otherwise, it would have been a case of confiscation without representation.”

 

 

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Landmark/CTA Refund

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            Earlier complaints by Landmark against the National Education Association (NEA) for its unreported use of tax exempt member and fee payer dues for political purposes resulted in an ongoing full-field audit by the Internal Revenue Service and an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.  Landmark is a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, MO and Leesburg, VA.