Alaska labor agency scraps its rules for religious objectors to public unions

The Alaska Labor Relations Agency's board adopted changes at its Oct. 2 meeting that repeal the rules public employees use to claim a religious exemption from union membership. The agency says a U.S. Supreme Court ruling made those rules moot. The repeal takes effect Nov. 8.

In answers to public questions that the board accepted, the agency pointed to the court's 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME. Under that ruling, the agency said, employees may not be compelled to join a union, and religious objectors "may now decline union membership" altogether. "Consequently, these sections are now moot," it wrote. The court's holding was that public-sector unions can't collect fees from employees who don't consent.

The state law behind the exemption remains on the books. AS 23.40.225 covers union contracts with "union security provisions" and says the agency "shall declare the employee exempt" after "proper proof of religious conviction." The employee must then pay the equivalent of union dues to the union, which gives the same amount to a charity. The agency's answers don't say how an employee would make that claim once the rule is gone.

Under the repealed rule, in place since 1995 and last amended in 2024, an objector filed a sworn, notarized claim and paid the dues equivalent to the union, which held it in escrow. The union could object and ask for a hearing. The board also repealed the escrow rule and a separate rule for objecting to union service fees.

The board also reworded the rule on interest cards, which unions and decertification campaigns collect from at least 30 percent of employees to petition to bring in or remove a union. The current rule says the cards "may not be disclosed." The August proposal would have said they may not be disclosed "to the employer." When a caller asked Aug. 10 whether adding "employer" made it unclear that the cards are also confidential from an intervenor "and anyone else," the agency answered, "Probably," and changed the wording. The adopted rule says the cards "may only be disclosed to the agency."

Other changes allow electronic interest cards, end the requirement to also deliver paper copies of documents filed by fax or email, and drop notarization for unfair labor practice complaints, which still must be sworn.

The agency said the changes carry out Gov. Mike Dunleavy's Administrative Order 360, which directs state agencies to cut their regulatory requirements 15 percent by the end of 2026 and 25 percent by the end of 2027.