Public Service Workers Need Unions. Here's Why.

By AFSCME Staff ·

America needs unions more than ever, so that public service workers and all working people have a chance in a democracy and an economy increasingly rigged in favor of the wealthy and the powerful.

Soaring economic inequality is eroding the middle class in part because of attacks on unions. Corporate executives and billionaires, and the politicians they fund, have launched a shameless assault on the hard-won rights of America’s workers to join together to demand fair pay and secure futures.

The U.S. Supreme Court case known as Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 – in which a decision is expected any day – is just the latest example of wealthy special interests trying to take away worker rights and freedoms.

The corporate assault on working people has spurred an unprecedented uprising nationwide to fight collectively for good jobs, fair pay and a fair shake for their communities, and those efforts were supported by pro-worker members of the U.S. House of Representatives. They took to the House floor last week to speak about the value of unions to working people and to expose the Janus case for what it really is.

Watch the video of lawmakers speaking out against billionaires and wealthy corporate CEOs and their anti-worker agenda.

The congressional lawmakers used their platforms to support the freedom of public service workers to join together in unions to gain strength to fight for good pay and benefits, and to secure the resources they need to serve their communities well.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is echoing those sentiments in a letter to working people scheduled to run in prominent media outlets. The AFL-CIO is launching a campaign to explain the Janus case. More details are here.