Sneak Peek of Courtroom Fights Over Public Union Power, Finances

A preview of legal battles across the country involving public sector unions’ power and finances may play out in a pair of cases slated for oral argument today at a federal appeals court in Seattle.

Losses could mean more rollbacks of unions’ legal power and their influence in the workplace and at the ballot box.

A trio of Democratic-appointed Ninth Circuit judges—Susan Graber, Margaret McKeown, and Morgan Christen—will hear arguments in two cases involving unions representing care providers who are subsidized through state programs. The issues include unions’ authority to act as workers’ exclusive bargaining agents and ...