Employment Issues
Our dedicated staff provides members with representation and legal assistance on topics such as dismissal, tenure, leave of absence, assignment, resignation, and other professional rights, duties, and responsibilities.
First, KEYTA is a professional teachers association, not a union. Teacher unions have exclusive rights, by law, to be the only union bargaining on the employees behalf. Since KEYTA is not a union, we can support and represent our members in every school district and public school entity across Pennsylvania. We are not a competing union, and threfore are not excluded from being in a school district establishment.
If your school district should strike, non-union teachers usually decide to not walk to picket line. However, if you choose to join your union colleagues, you are welcome to. The Keystone Teachers Association does not take an official position on teacher strikes, because in the rarest of instances, a strike may be necessary.
On June 28, 2018, in a landmark case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that union-collected fair share fees are illegal. In writing the majority opinion, Justice Alito stated that forced union fees “violate the free speech of nonmembers by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern.”
The United States Supreme Court recently overturned an outdated law that allowed public sector unions to withdraw fees from employees, even if they choose to refrain from union membership. Since this historical ruling, we have heard union officials calling these independent teachers free-riders, since they no longer have to fund an organization they don’t agree with.
