OP-ED ‘Right-to-work’ case seeks to weaken unions
Every day there is a new attack on working families. There are attempts to roll back worker protections, get rid of safety nets for our golden years, cut health care to give tax breaks to the wealthy and strip workers of our good wages. If we don’t pay attention, all that we’ve worked so hard to gain over the years will be gone.
Corporations and wealthy special interests are behind all of these attacks, and they hope we’re not paying attention. They hope we’ll be oblivious to the devastating laws they are passing to hold us back.
Any day, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a decision that will impact more than 17 million public-sector union workers. The case, Janus v AFSCME, is a so-called “right-to-work” case that seeks to weaken unions. As a school custodian, this ruling will affect me, teachers, postal carriers, police officers, firefighters and many more – the hardworking men and women who are the backbone of our community. This lawsuit is a means of holding working people back from organizing to join unions and fighting for good wages and strong communities. My co-workers and union members across the nation will not stand idly by. We are putting the rich and powerful that are behind this case on notice. You will not divide us.
As a proud member of the union 32BJ SEIU, I’ve been employed with the Bentworth School District for 30 years. My father, who was in the Steelworkers union, told me as a young man to immediately sign up for the union after my probationary period. I haven’t regretted that decision. It’s because of my job that I’ve been able to support my wife, community and see my two children grow up and have successful lives.
It saddens me that wealthy special interests and the politicians that do their bidding continue to fight so that workers no longer have a fair shake in life. While I’m nearing retirement, this case is important to me because I want to make sure those coming behind me can find gainful employment, so they can support their families. These good jobs are a pathway to the middle class.
A recent study looked at the wages of workers in California compared to those in Texas, which has similar laws to the Janus case. If California turns into Texas, workers stand to lose $2,000 a year in wages. In Wisconsin, also a so-called “right-to-work” state, workers earn $6,000 less a year, there’s an increase in poverty, and workplace fatalities are up 49 percent.
An injury to unions hurts everyone. Unions are the reason that children no longer work in coal mines and we’re not forced to work 80 hours per week. This case could have us pedaling backward to a time when working people were forced to endure a complete lack of respect just to feed their families. Corporate special interests will not stop until they can pay us whatever they want, with no benefits, no safety regulations, and no rights on the job. This court case and all attacks on working families are simply about the corporate bottom line. They want to take away our rights so that they have all the power and make more money.
But, we will not let them take us backward. Workers across the state and the country are united like never before. We’ve seen teachers unite and strike in North Carolina, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky in an effort to better conditions for themselves and their students. SEIU and other union members got out the vote and elected pro-union candidate Conor Lamb to Congress in a stunning upset victory. And, we’ve witnessed hundreds of thousands join unions this year despite this threat.
We will not let a court case decide how we will raise our families, or support our schools, businesses and churches. While special interests are working to do us harm, we are working to keep families and communities strong.
Carl Sutherland is a resident of Beallsville and a member of 32BJ SEIU.