The addition of Neil Gorsuch has
given conservatives the decisive edge on the Supreme Court that they have
sought for many years.
The Janus case is likely to slash
the resources of unions. Another case will be a setback for minimum wage
workers, those who labor for $7.25 an hour.
These cases together will widen
economic inequality and shift greater power to corporations.
“The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case that could deal a crushing blow to organized labor.
“It was one of 11 cases the justices
added to the court’s docket from the roughly 2,000 petitions seeking review
that had piled up during the court’s summer break.
“In the labor case, the court will
consider whether public-sector unions may require workers who are not members
to help pay for collective bargaining. If the court’s answer is no, unions
would probably lose a substantial source of revenue.
“The question was before the
justices last year in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, and they
seemed poised to rule against the unions when the case was argued in January
2016. But the death of Justice Antonin Scalia the next month resulted in a
4-to-4 deadlock.“
Slate reports:
“In recent years, the nationwide
Fight for $15 movement has succeeded in persuading several states and cities to
raise their hourly minimum wages well above the federal minimum of $7.25. But
the effort to ensure a living wage for workers may be headed for a serious
setback in the U.S. Supreme Court. Depending on how they rule in a case set for
argument next week, the justices could make it much more difficult for millions
of workers to secure even the meager wages guaranteed by existing federal law.
“On Monday, the day that kicks off
the Supreme Court’s new term, the justices will hear arguments in three
consolidated cases with far-reaching implications for wage-earners. The
cases—Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris, and
National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc.—are all about whether
employers have the right to compel workers go through onerous individual
arbitration proceedings in order to bring labor law claims. If the justices
answer that question in the affirmative, then the affected workers will—as a
practical matter—find it nearly impossible to win back pay in cases involving
wage law violations.
“In the typical case involving wage
law violations—such as when a firm makes employees work off the clock, pays
less than the minimum wage, or fails to pay extra for overtime—plaintiffs bring
what’s called a collective action (similar, but not identical to, a class
action) in order to recover back pay from a common employer. Each worker’s
claim might be worth only a few hundred or few thousand dollars, but when the
defendant is a large firm with lots of similarly situated employees, the
collective action might be worth millions. So while virtually no lawyer would
want to take on an individual case on behalf of such a plaintiff, it’s much
easier to find competent counsel to litigate a potentially more lucrative
collective action.
“To pre-empt this possibility, more
and more firms are inserting individual arbitration clauses into employee
contracts. These clauses require employees to pursue workplace-related claims
before private arbitrators rather than in federal or state court. These clauses
also, critically, require employees to pursue their claims individually rather
than through collective actions.”
These are victories long sought by
the most reactionary elements of the most powerful elites in America. ALEC, the
Koch brothers, the DeVos family, and all those collectively known as “Dark
Money” are close to achieving one of their most cherished goals, the victory of
capital over labor.
