Charlton Heston, RIP
Actor and civil rights activist Charlton Heston passed away this weekend. He was primarily known for his high profile roles in movies like the Ten Commandments and the Planet of the Apes, but Heston was also a champion of constitutional rights, including the Right to Work:
. . . As a proponent of right-to-work states such as Idaho and in opposition of the merger of SAG and the Screen Extras Guild, Heston clashed with the union and was officially censured in 1986 — a first for the organization.
In 1988, a group Heston helped form, SAG Leaders for Labor Justice, filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that members of private sector unions should be allowed to pay only the portion of their union dues that goes to directly negotiating and enforcing union contracts. Heston’s side prevailed at the court, paving the way for the “financial core” option for talent who don’t want to pay to support their guilds’ other activities.
Heston never let peer pressure stand in the way of justice. He will be missed.