The Irony of Ironies Supreme Court’s Latest Anti-Union Decision
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/03/supreme-courts-latest-anti-union-decision/
JULY 03, 2014
by DAVID MACARAY
Organized labor got an understandable scare when the Supreme Court, on June 30, in yet another 5-4 decision, ruled (in Harris vs. Quinn) that home healthcare employees cant be forced to pay union dues, even if they have benefited from union representation. No surprise that those comprising the majority were Justices Scalia, Alito, Kennedy, Roberts and Thomas. The Gang of Five.
However, what worries organized labor mostwhat has put them on alertisnt the Harris vs. Quinn decision so much as the potential snowball effect it may have on the landmark Abrood vs. Detroit Board of Education decision (1977), a ruling which maintained that fair share requirements were constitutional. But that was way back in 1977, when unions were still recognized as vitally important social-economic institutions.
Alas, things have changed. There is now a predatory anti-union movement loose upon the land, one that is going around telling working folks that they deserve a free ride. These anti-union fiends are telling workers who voluntarily hired into union shops (because of the superior wages, benefits and working conditions) that they dont have to pay their fair sharethat they dont have to pay dues to the very union who fought to get them these superior wages and benefits.
Nutty as that sounds, these anti-union fanatics have not only tried to make this a bogus First Amendment issue, they have, in fact, managed to get some intelligent people to listen to them, including the conservative wing of the Supreme Court. Of course, one can guess what organized labors position is on this issue. Their position is defined by a bedrock adherence to a sense of fair play.
FULL story at link.
David Macaray is a labor columnist and author (Its Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor, 2nd Edition).
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