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The False Slogan of Right to Work: An Attack on Worker Freedom

AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders explains in a new column why the Janus v. AFSCME case would be particularly bad for minority communities.
The False Slogan of Right to Work: An Attack on Worker Freedom
By Lee Saunders ·

(Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared in the AFRO-American Newspapers).

Today’s economy is rigged against working families and in favor of the wealthy and the powerful. That’s not by accident. CEOs and the politicians who do their bidding have written the rules that way, advancing their own interests at the expense of everyone else. 

Now, they’re trying to get the rigged system affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. In a few months, the justices will hear a case called Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, which would make so-called “right to work” the law of the land in the public sector, threatening the freedom of working people to join together in strong unions.

The powerful backers in this case have made no secret about their true agenda. They have publicly said that they want to “defund and defang” unions like the one I lead. … Union membership is especially important for communities of color, historically providing a ladder to the middle class, helping them earn their fair share of the wealth and the value they generate.

(You can read the rest of the column here).

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