(Source: Statement by LAANE Executive Director Roxana Tynan, June 27, 2018)
LOS ANGELES — This morning, in its Janus v. AFSCME decision, the Supreme Court overturned more than four decades of precedent by ruling that fair share fees for public sector workers are unconstitutional. Their decision has forced so-called Right to Work laws on public sector workers in Los Angeles—and the entire country.
What this means is that public-sector unions—which have been the driving force behind virtually all modern worker protections—see their very existence threatened by greedy, craven billionaires and corporations. ‘Right to Work’ is a misnomer promoted by these interests to make sure non-union workers don’t have to pay their fair share to the unions bargaining on their behalf.
In California, we have been able to move the state in a more progressive direction by partnerships between labor and community. Our labor movement has supported a range of fights from criminal justice reform, to minimum wage increases, to ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes—issues which benefit all of us whether we are in a union or not.
No court decision can stamp out decades of progress made by working people. We will not allow the Janus decision to stand in the way of our fight for good jobs, safe workplaces, equal pay for women, fair treatment of immigrant workers, and dignity at work for everyone.
It’s no secret that the economy is rigged against working families. The only way for us to fight back is to stand together and organize. Our movement for social and economic justice has stood, and won, in the face of powerful corporate interests that spend hundreds of millions of dollars to divide us. Today’s ruling will not change that.
LAANE will continue to stand with our union partners, who have led and are leading the fight in Los Angeles for public education and schools that all students deserve, a fair workweek for retail workers, and protection for women who work in hotels from sexual harassment and assault on the job.
Unions have made decades of progressive change possible in Los Angeles and in cities across the nation. It’s time to fight like never before to defend them.
In Solidarity,
Roxana Tynan
LAANE Executive Director
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About LAANE
LAANE is a leading advocacy organization dedicated to building a new economy for all. Combining dynamic research, innovative public policy and the organizing of broad alliances, LAANE promotes a new economic approach based on good jobs, thriving communities, and a healthy environment.