Rep. Ernie Yarbrough introduces legislation to end union payroll deductions and ban opt-out windows for public employees.

Montgomery, AL— The Freedom Foundation today announced its support for House Bill 666 introduced by Alabama state Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Decatur) that would end payroll dues deduction for school district and higher education employees and end opt-out window requirements for all Alabama public employees statewide. 

Despite being a decisively red, right-to-work state, Alabama maintains some of the strictest union opt-out windows in the country — limiting public employees to just an annual 10-day period at the end of July to cancel their union membership.

For teachers, the restriction is especially burdensome given the dominance of the Alabama Education Association (AEA), the state affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA) and the largest union in the state.

“Government should not be in the business of collecting union membership dues, especially those so overtly engaged in political activities. If employees choose to join a union, they can and should pay their dues directly, as they would with any other private organization,” said Rusty Brown, Special Projects Director at the Freedom Foundation. “Instead, current law keeps teachers trapped paying dues automatically out of every paycheck to a union they may not wish to support or be a part of. To make matters worse, they are given only a tiny 10-day window each year to opt out. No American should be compelled to remain in any organization against their will, much less if it forcibly takes money out of their pockets. This window wasn’t designed to protect workers; it was designed to keep them trapped. We’re proud to stand with Rep. Yarbrough in changing that.”

Yarbrough’s legislation would remove the payroll deduction mechanism that allows unions to automatically withhold dues from public employees’ paychecks and eliminate the narrow opt-out window that currently leaves most Alabama public employees with no practical path to exit union membership.

The Freedom Foundation has been at the forefront of advancing public-sector worker rights across the country, supporting similar legislation in states including Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming.