Harrisburg, PA (March 2, 2015) – Last Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court effectively ended teacher unions’ stranglehold over public school teachers’ access to information about their workplace rights by affirming education activists’ request to acquire the names and home addresses of teachers across the state. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys intervened in the case for Simon Campbell, president of Pennsylvanians for Union Reform, who sought the addresses to inform educators of their rights to refrain from union membership and opt out of paying dues for union politics.

In 2009, Campbell and Pennsylvanians for Union Reform submitted a request with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records for the names and home addresses of over 200,000 Pennsylvania educators. Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) union lawyers responded by filing a lawsuit against the Office of Open Records to block the release of that information.

Campbell and his organization want to inform teachers of their rights to refrain from union membership and the payment of dues for union politics. Although Pennsylvania teachers can be forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment, they cannot be constitutionally required to join a union or pay dues for anything unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as union political activism.

Unfortunately, union officials are often reluctant to inform teachers of their rights to opt out. Campbell’s public information campaign is aimed at informing educators of their workplace rights to ensure that no teacher is unwittingly funding controversial union politics.

In a 5-2 decision, the Commonwealth Court ruled that Campbell was entitled to public school teachers’ names and home addresses under the state’s Right to Know law so long as the teachers were informed of his request and allowed to challenge the release of that information.

“This case is a victory for Pennsylvanians seeking to end Big Labor’s stranglehold on their state’s public school system,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Education activists should be able to notify teachers of their rights to refrain from union membership and the payment of full union dues.”

“This victory is particularly vital because union officials often keep teachers in the dark about their workplace rights in order to keep filling their coffers with full union dues,” added Semmens.

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, assists thousands of employees in more than 250 cases nationwide per year.