Contact: Brad Dacus, President , Pacific Justice Institute, 916-857-6900

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 23 /Standard Newswire/ -- In recent court filings opposing Prop. 8, more than fifty unions claim to speak for their combined two million members in support of gay marriage.  Attorneys for Pacific Justice Institute, who regularly counsel employees frustrated by far-left union positions, beg to differ.

Among the dozens of legal briefs filed last week with the California Supreme Court, a coalition of labor unions argued that Prop. 8 should be overturned.  The union brief was filed on behalf of numerous affiliates of the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, Communications Workers of America, Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers, and United Steel Workers, as well as the California Nurses Association, the Screen Actors Guild, the California and American Federations of Teachers, and others.

The brief emphasizes that these unions "represent more than two million working men and women in California," then proceeds to attack Prop. 8, which hundreds of thousands of those same men and women voted to approve.  The brief claims that Prop. 8 "would strip one class of citizens of a fundamental right."  The brief also frets that Prop. 8 leaves vulnerable other fundamental rights, including the right to worship, the right to speak and the right  to vote, while failing to mention that all are clearly protected by the federal Constitution.

Brad Dacus, President of Pacific Justice Institute, commented, "We are contacted almost daily by hard-working men and women who are appalled that their mandatory union membership and dues are being used to advance agendas that they strongly disagree with.  It is just wrong for unions to forcibly demand hefty dues and then use those funds for extreme causes unrelated to labor, such as advocating against traditional marriage."

Dacus also noted that, under federal law, unions must accommodate employees whose religious beliefs conflict with the unions’ moral stances.  Such employees are entitled to donate the entire amount of their dues to charity, instead of the union.  Pacific Justice Institute is able to help employees through the process of exercising a religious objection to union dues.  If you have questions, please visit www.pji.org and submit a request for assistance.

About The Pacific Justice Institute:  Pacific Justice Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights, and other civil liberties. Pacific Justice Institute works diligently, without charge, to provide their clients with all the legal support they need.  Pacific Justice Institute's strategy is to coordinate and oversee large numbers of concurrent court actions through a network of over 1,000 affiliate attorneys nationwide. And, according to former US Attorney General Edwin Meese, "The Institute fills a critical need for those whose civil liberties are threatened." "Through our dedicated attorneys and supporters, we defend the rights of countless individuals, families and churches... without charge."