When the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association earlier this year, hundreds of workers assembled outside the court to demand an end to the attacks against working families. That’s because Friedrichs is an attack on public service workers from wealthy special interests, and a majority ruling against workers could have the effect of silencing our voice on the job.
A decision in the case was expected before the end of June. But with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, it’s possible the Court may choose to rehear the case once a new justice is appointed.
If the Court makes a ruling this spring, it’s possible the final vote will be 4-4, in which case there won’t be a majority decision. That means this attack on public workers, will have failed. But only for the time being.
It’s important to remember that the wealthy special interests who are out to destroy workers’ unions will continue their attacks. They will continue to use the courts to try to take away our rights. And they will continue to press their attacks at the state and local levels, as they did in West Virginia, now the 26th state to go right-to-work.
All of this means one thing: Our union will never quit the efforts we began two years ago to become stronger than ever. We will continue to increase our membership to protect our jobs, defend our rights, and maintain the quality of the services we provide our communities.