BYU Law is hosting the 2016 Bruce C. Hafen Annual lecture on Friday, February 5, at noon, with speaker Professor Richard Epstein from the New York University School of Law. Professor Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, director of the Classical Liberal Institute at NYU, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, and professor emeritus and senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. The title of Professor Epsteins' lecture is "The Future of Compulsory Unionization: Will Unions Continue to Rule the Roost on Political and Economic Matters?"
The recent oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association show that the traditional “agency shop” which allows public sector unions to collect dues from nonmembers for economic activities is under a First Amendment assault as a violation of the principles of free speech. It now looks as though a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices will accept this claim, which would upset basic relations between government and its unions. What changes will be wrough, and will they spill over into the private sector? Professor Epstein, who has written and spoken extensively on these questions, will analyze how both unions and local governments are likely to respond to the looming Friedrich's decision.