Destroying organized labor, in the form of labor unions, has always been one of the ultimate goals of rich Americans and the radical right-wingers that dominate today's Republican party. To achieve this goal, they have moved almost all manufacturing overseas (when practical) and are in the process of off -shoring as many service jobs as possible, and, of course, with each passing year new technologies are designed to take away more and more jobs.
Pesky labor unions are still around for many state's civil service employees because those jobs are harder to offshore. But the wealthy right-wingers have been slowly working on taking away the collective bargaining rights of workers. The ironically named "right-to-work" legislation passed in several states takes away the ability for unions to charge dues and some states to not allow civil service employees to unionize at all (which in my opinion should also be unconstitutional.) It should be called "right-to-work for low wages and in poor conditions"
The Friedrichs vs. California Teachers' Union case which was heard before the United States Supreme Court in January would take away all unions' rights to charge mandatory dues to all employees regardless of whether or not they want to participate in the union. This would weaken any remaining unions in the United States. Fortunately before the decision could be written up, right-wing Justice Antonin Scalia died, This leaves the case in limbo, and I am not certain if a decision will ever be official. The lower court had ruled in favor of the Teacher's Union which would maintain unions for now, if the Justices hold the ruling to only the surviving members of the Supreme Court. However if this attack fails, I am sure there are other lawsuits either in progress or ready to launch trying to do the same thing.
The argument against the California Teachers' Union's right to charge dues to all members, states that mandatory dues take away the right to free speech. I would agree with that however, unionized employers are now few and far between, therefore workers have a right not to choose to work for a unionized business or organization or not. Their free speech is protected by them not working for a unionized school district. I am sure there are union free school districts in California as well as non-union private schools, Ms. Friedrichs could have utilized her free speech by choosing to work for one of those districts or schools. I think free speech should only come into question if all employers in the United States had unions and the worker had no choice as to whether or not to work for a unionized employer.
As the right-wingers constantly push their agenda through, you have progressives like Elizabeth Warren trying to get legislation passed that will force employers to give worker sufficient notice about shift changes and working overtime. She sponsored the "Schedules that Work Act" which basically regulates how employers can change schedules. This is something that unions would normally do, but since unions are being eliminated you know have to have laws modify labor practices nationwide.
If the unions are completely wiped-out the American middle-class will eventually be wiped-out as well. I do not know who Rachel Friedrichs is but if you Google her, you get a picture of someone who has wry smile on her face, a look that says, "I am getting a big payday for doing this, and you stupid unionized workers are all going all be out of jobs or working for minimum wage very soon, heh, heh, heh," I am not sure if this was the intention, but that's what the photo looks like to me.
Whether you worked for a unionized employer or not, it is important to support labor unions, if we want to continue to have a middle class, but if the wealthy right-wingers get their way labor unions will quickly become a thing of the past.
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