European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes wednesday March 26, 1986 James Reston Reagan lost bit of his magic in vote on Contra Aid you can always Tell that a politician or an actor is getting into trouble when the people Stop laughing at his jokes or begin to clap at the wrong places. That s what happened to president Rea Gan on the Nicaragua question. What he lost in the House of representatives was not another $100 million for the contras. He can probably pick that up 50 cents to the Dollar in the Senate and with Casey at the Bat in the Cia maybe get it All Back one Way or another. What he lost was a bit of his magic which has been the source of his strength. Somehow with a wave and a smile he managed to get away with a policy of Bor Row and borrow spend and spend that Dou bled the total National debt and More than doubled the annual interest rate on that debt. But when he made $100 million for the rebels in Nicaragua a test of his presi Dency and the loyalty of the Congress even his most faithful supporters began to think he was pushing his television Luck too far. Particularly since after he lost in the House he began to lose not Only his magic but his temper. He would not accept the doubts of the Congress. He would keep after them for that $100 Mil lion for the contras again and again until he won. Meanwhile in the confusion some other things Are going on in the world. The . Soviet talks on the control of nuclear weapons in Geneva Are not making Prog Ress. The russians Are arguing for an end to nuclear tests and the United states tested underground in the Nevada desert Over the weekend. The War Between Iran and Iraq continues with spectacular and unnoticed loss of life the jews and arabs continue their endless feuds in the Middle East and even the israeli parliament has been breaking Down into personal and factional fights. So in Washington we go on arguing about Nicaragua and in Moscow they go on arguing about Afghanistan and in Europe the governments argue about Trade and the Cost of vegetables. But somehow nobody seems Ever to get around to the things they have in common. One thing they have in common is that All their ideological theories and sys James Kilpatrick tems of politics Are failing to Deal with the realities of human nature. All you have to do is look around. If the purpose of a government is to look after the Well being of its Peoples then surely the soviet communist system in Moscow is the greatest disappointment of the Century. It is no longer regarded As a Model for the communist parties in the Western Industrial world or in Eastern Europe. And even Mikhail Gorbachev at the re cent party Congress in the Kremlin railed at its failures. The new leaders in China have had to concede that the theories of Mao were a disaster and Are now trying to match the philosophy of the Central kingdom to the computerized revolution of the Industrial West. Francois Mitterrand in Paris Margaret Thatcher in London Helmut Kohl in West Germany among others Are All finding that their theories Are being destroyed by the brutal facts of life and that they have to Compromise with their political opponents at Home and with their allies and adversaries abroad. Maybe this is the Good news today. With the first world Economy in history when the Price of Oil creates turmoil in the Middle East and the Middle West and creates new problems even in Texas and Louisiana politicians Here and elsewhere have to think anew about How to work together for the people they represent. And this is precisely the regret about Reagan who stands at the Center of this world struggle. He is not concentrating on the Central questions of the age but using All his considerable Power and eloquence on Nicaragua. This is what he has really lost in recent Days not Only the $100 million for the contras but the Confidence of the con Gress that he knows where he s going his sense of what is primary and what is secondary. And if this is True it is important. For if we be Learned anything about the con duct or misconduct of foreign policy it is that Only the president and not the con Gress can speak effectively for the United states. This Reagan has not done. And the democrats Haven t been much help either. But the critical Point is that Reagan has two Long years to go during which the tangles of military arms and Trade depend primarily on him. He needs the support of the Congress but by concentrating on Nicaragua and insisting that this is the main question for decision he is losing it and hurting him self and his party and the nation in the process. C new York times news service Little Guys win a big Victory in supreme court in the world of big unionism it s not often that the Little Guys come out on top but the Little Guys have won a big one. On March 4 the . Supreme court unanimously upheld the rights of non Union schoolteachers in Chicago to be protected against misuse of the Agency fees they Are compelled to pay. This marked the fourth major Case in which the High court has addressed the plight of the worker in a Union shop who is compelled to pay a fee to the Union he has refused to join. The court consistently has upheld the Agency fee As such. A non Union worker is not entitled to unfettered status As a free rider. But Nei ther is a Union entitled to unfettered use of the non member s Money. In 1960 the court addressed the Issue in a Case involving railway workers in Georgia but that Case went off on construction of the railway labor act and did not reach constitutional dimensions. In 1977 the court held that a teachers Union in Detroit could not collect fees from non members for the support of ideological causes. In 1984, in a Case involving non Union employees of Western airlines the court under took a detailed analysis of permissible and impermissible use of the dissenters fees. With its decision of March 4 in Chicago teachers Union v. Lee Hudson the court made it emphatically Clear that non Union workers have first amendment rights that a Union is bound to respect. Moreover the court Laid Down Clear guide lines for enforcing those rights. In Chicago the teachers Union an affiliate of the american federation of teach ers had cooked up a neat Little system for ostensibly complying with the Law. With out Ever explaining exactly How it arrived at the figure the Union in 1982 announced that 95 percent of its expenditures were properly related to collective bargaining the other 5 percent were not. Therefore the Union unilaterally fixed dues for the coining year $17.35 for member teachers $16.48 or 95 percent for non member teachers. The Union had a nifty arrangement for taking care of such troublemakers As Lee Hudson. After the $16.48 was deducted from his paycheck an objecting worker could complain in writing to the Union president that the amount was too High. If the worker were dissatisfied with the president s ruling the worker could a peal to the Union s executive Board. If the worker were dissatisfied with the ruling of the executive Board the worker could take the Issue to arbitration before an arbitrator to be selected by the Union president. How s that for democracy inaction speaking through Justice John Paul Stevens the supreme court told the Union to Knock it off. The amount at stake for each individual dissenter is immaterial. Whatever the amount non Union teachers cannot be compelled to subsidize the propagation of political or ideological views that they oppose. The Union must disclose All of its expenditures non Union employees cannot be left in the dark and these outlays must be subject to verification by an Independent auditor. Then a careful division must be made Between outlays for collective bar gaining and other outlays. That division must be subject to review by an impartial  in the future an arbitrator will not be chosen by the Union presi Dent alone. Because the Chicago teachers were Public employees the Hudson Deci Sion is not necessarily applicable to work ers in the private sector but it is hard to see How the same principles could fail to apply. The first amendment makes no distinction Between Public and private workers. Taken together the four cases since 1960 give reassurance to non Union workers everywhere. They May legally be compelled to pay millions for representation in a Union shop but they cannot be compelled to pay one cent in tribute to ideas they abhor c Universal press Syndicate