Religious Objections To Union Membership Interpreted By Washington AG

Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna has issued an Opinion (AGO 2006 No. 14) interpreting RCW 41.80.100. The statute provides that state employees with a religious objection to union membership need not join the union representing an agency's employees. Instead, the objecting employee can make payments to the union for purposes that would be in harmony with his or her individual conscience. The AG's Opinion ruled that a state employee may assert a strongly held private religious objection to union membership, even if the objection is not based on the teachings of an established church or religious body. However, the worker's objection to union membership must be a religious one, and not merely a philosophical, sociological, ethical, or moral objection. Yesterday's Olympian reports on the issuance of the AG's Opinion.