Teachers' suit is another corporate attack on workers
It’s no secret that our nation’s economy in recent years has swung out of balance. Working people are having an increasingly difficult time just getting by, while getting ahead can often seem a dream out of reach. It’s not for lack of effort. Everyday Americans are working more than ever. That work has created record wealth for an economic recovery that is the envy of the world and that seems to be reflected everywhere but in workers’ wallets.
This is no accident. The rules that govern our economy are unfairly manipulated by corporations and the ultrawealthy 1 percent so that they favor corporations and the rich. Sadly, there are very few people in power today who stand up for average Americans.
Yet we all know that it’s also no accident that our nation is as great as it is. That greatness was built by a commitment to a strong middle class, where those who work hard should be able to make ends meet, have a say about their futures and have the right to negotiate together for better wages and benefits to support their families.
Unfortunately, corporate CEOs and wealthy special interests are still not content, no matter how skewed the rules are in their favor, no matter how much wealth they control. That explains the fact that the Koch brothers and other corporate interests have backed an anti-worker case before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.
To understand what’s at stake, it’s necessary to understand what is known as the Fair Share system. In the United States today, no one is forced to join a union. But unions are forced to represent all workers, even those who do not join the union.
A previous Supreme Court determined that because unions are legally required to represent all employees, it is only fair that they be permitted to charge a reasonable fee to nonunion employees for the cost of representing those employees. And that court made clear that the teachers, firefighters, nurses and other municipal workers who do not want to join the union could only be charged for those costs of the representation they receive – and none of their fees can be used for political purposes.
Abolishing Fair Share would mean that some employees get the benefits of the union for free, while others pay more than their fair share. Yet that’s just what the corporate-funded plaintiffs in Friedrichs are trying to accomplish.
This effort to have the Supreme Court ban Fair Share agreements is really about a political agenda, not the law. This is just the latest tactic by the same wealthy special interests who have been attacking working people for years and still want to tilt the balance of power further their way and build their fortunes on the backs of others. We already know the impact – in states that have made Fair Share illegal, worker wages are lower, they are much less likely to have health insurance, and there is a significantly higher rate of workplace deaths.
The Supreme Court should reject this attack on public employees and allow Fair Share to continue to work fairly and equitably, as it has for decades. Then we can continue to build an economy for teachers, nurses, firefighters and other workers, an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
Jennifer Muir is general manager, Orange County Employees Association.Teachers' suit is another corporate attack on workers - The Orange County Register:
