Chris Bangert-Drowns completes his Union Cities/DC LaborFest internship today. In addition to playing a key role in organizing and staffing the biggest LaborFest yet, Chris broadened Union City’s coverage, scouring Metro Council affiliate social media for news and updates and covering dozens of rallies and picket lines. He also helped expand Union City’s readership to its current 35,000, ensuring timely database adds and updates. Chris also enthusiastically took on a producing role in Union City Radio’s weekly “Your Rights At Work” show on WPFW as well as the new “Labor History Today” podcast and pitching in with other Metro Council programs as needed. His energy, good humor and keen insights were much appreciated and we wish him solidarity and success. Reach him at [email protected] - Chris Garlock; photo at the 2018 LaborFest Laborpalooza by Chris Garlock Metro-area unions reacted defiantly to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Janus vs AFSCME this morning. The Court ruled, 5-4, that public-sector unions should not be allowed to collect “fair share” fees from the workers they represent. “This is not going to kill public sector unions,” said Andrew Washington, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 20, which represents DC city workers. In fact, Washington said, “It will make us stronger, as we continue to connect directly with our members about the importance of their union.” And while Eric Bunn, AFGE District 14 National Vice President, said the ruling was a “devastating blow to working class Americans,” he insisted “the American labor movement isn’t going no damn where. We’ll keep fighting, not only for our members, but for all workers standing up against attacks from the bosses and the right wing.” Washington said he’s been telling AFSCME Council 20 members “keep your voice, make sure you stay involved, to ensure a better life.” Metro Washington Council president Jackie Jeter said she’s “disappointed that the Supreme Court has failed to protect workers rights,” but added that “I am excited about the unexplored possibilities that we have to mobilize and energize our members.” Jeter called the decision “a self serving ruling that’s clearly meant to keep workers unorganized and to maximize power and profit for big business, but no court can dilute the power of workers, united.” See below for dozens of other union/ally responses... by Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff Writer
WASHINGTON (PAI)—In a predictable ruling, the 5-man Republican-named majority of the U.S. Supreme Court lowered the boom on unions representing state and local government workers, declaring every single such worker in the country a “free rider,” able to take union services without paying for them. That will deprive unions of hundreds of thousands of members and millions of dollars in agency fees, weakening their ability to represent and advocate for all workers. The decision effectively makes every state and local government workplace – schools, fire departments, police stations, sanitation departments, state child welfare agencies, public hospitals and more – rght-to-work sites when present union contracts expire. The court’s decision culminates a long campaign by the National Right to Work Committee, its legal defense fund and its corporate backers, led by the stridently anti-worker Koch brothers to, as one of their advocates put it, “defund the left” by cutting off its cash. Organized labor is a key source of people and contributions for progressive causes. Unions blasted the ruling and vowed to shoulder on, re-signing current state and local government worker members and signing up new ones, regardless of the Janus case. Unions are fighting back through increased organizing successes, said AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, noting that “more than 14,000 workers recently formed or joined unions in just a single week” and union membership grew by 262,000 last year nationwide. “ The majority’s ruling “will have large-scale consequences,” warned justice Elena Kagan. “Public employee unions will lose a secure source of financial support. State and local governments that thought fair-share provisions furthered their interests” in workplace peace and efficiency “will have to find new ways of managing their workforces. And across the country, the relationships of public employees and employers will alter in both predictable and wholly unexpected ways.” A recent analysis by the University of Illinois Labor Education Service and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute calculated that once the ruling takes full effect, public worker unions would lose 726,000 members over time. The top losses would be in California (-189,000 members), New York (-136,000), New Jersey (-50,000), Illinois (-49,000) and Ohio (-40,000). Teachers unions would lose 88,000 members. AFSCME Council 31, which represents Illinois state and local government workers and which lost the case, has approximately 75,000 members, 80 percent of them state and local government workers. And the average state and local government worker would lose $1,810 yearly in pay (3.6 percent), with teachers losing even more (5.4 percent), the study said. Nationwide, state and local government workers would lose $16.8 billion over time in pay. Maryland primary elections are today, with polls open from 7a to 8p; click here to find your polling location. Click here for the latest list of labor-endorsed candidates. For details on volunteering today, contact Metro Washington Council Political Director David Dzidzienyo at [email protected] or call (202) 320-9027 or MCGEO’s Amy Millar [email protected] or call 240-876-1660. graphic courtesy AFL-CIO |