The U.S. Supreme Court took up a challenge by business groups Tuesday to a California law that prohibits employers from spending money they get from the state on anti-union activities. The law, passed in 2000, was upheld in September 2006 by a federal appeals court in San Francisco, which said the spending ban did not violate employers' freedom of speech or interfere with federal regulation of labor-management relations. But the high court agreed Tuesday to review the case at the request of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, construction contractors and the Bush administration. Willis Goldsmith, attorney for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the case addresses important issues regarding a state's authority to restrict employers' actions toward unions.
See "U.S. high court to review state law on anti-union spending", Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, November 20, 2007