Repeal of Alaska's rules for religious objectors to public unions takes effect Nov. 8

Public employees in Alaska who object to union membership on religious grounds will lose the state rules for claiming that exemption on Nov. 8, when the Alaska Labor Relations Agency's repeal takes effect.

The agency is also dropping its rules for objecting to union service fees and for holding disputed fees in escrow. It says the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME made all three moot, because public employees can now decline union membership altogether.

The state law behind the religious exemption stays on the books. It says the agency "shall declare the employee exempt" after proof of religious conviction. The agency hasn't said how an employee would make that claim once the rule is gone.

The same package lets workers sign interest cards electronically. Those are the cards unions and decertification campaigns collect to petition to bring in or remove a union, and only the agency can see them. It also drops the notary requirement for unfair labor practice complaints and ends the need to mail paper copies of documents already filed by fax or email.

The lieutenant governor's office filed the changes Oct. 9. The agency says they carry out Gov. Mike Dunleavy's order to cut state regulations.