No: It’s an attack on workers’ right to organize

Christopher Mabe

This week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME was a blatant political attack to further rig the economy against everyday Americans in favor of the wealthy and powerful.

Make no mistake: This wasn’t a grassroots movement of disgruntled workers. This was a well-funded attack by groups like the National Right to Work Foundation, the Freedom Foundation and their wealthy corporate supporters and lobbyists who have spent millions to try to take away our freedoms to join in unions. It was intended to “destabilize, defang and defund unions” — a rallying cry often used by extremist groups like the the American Legislative Exchange Council and the State Policy Network, which have long sought the demise of public-sector unions, along with the suppression of wages and benefits.

But no group of extremists will change our members’ resolve to stick together and lift up our collective voices.

Ohio is a state built on the promise of middle-class opportunities. It’s a state that supports working families and sees value in hard work, determination and grit. It’s no coincidence that Ohio is also a state that supports its unions.

Unionized steelworkers and autoworkers have been joined in morerecent decades by unionized hospital workers, transportation employees and public-service workers such as teachers and correction officers.

Several years ago, Ohioans even voted against a bill that would have done exactly what the Janus decision will do: make Ohio a Right to Work state for public employees. Ohioans voted in large numbers against Senate Bill 5 because they know unions help level the playing field and strengthen our middleclass communities.

But this week, the Supreme Court ruling in Janus has made it harder for public-sector employees to come together in strong unions to stand up for those middle-class opportunities.

Being a teacher, a correction officer or a police officer, a meat inspector or a highway worker shouldn’t disqualify you from being able to speak up on the job and build power for yourself and your community.

Those who choose public service are a dedicated bunch who never quit. They’re the ones working holidays while we enjoy time with our families. They’re watching over our state prisons or plowing our roads or getting state parks ready for family trips. They’re teaching our children or making sure our food is safe and our air is clean. They’re not asking for much and they don’t always get the recognition they deserve.

But they do deserve the freedom to come together to speak up for better pay, affordable health care and a dignified retirement.

This decision comes as millions of workers across the country are recommitting to their unions, new organizing campaigns are being launched and popular support for unions has risen to its highest level in 15 years. In fact, millennials and young workers now support unions by an astonishing 68 percent.

America needs unions now more than ever, because unions give everyday working people the power in numbers they need to speak up for themselves and their families and to make their communities stronger.

Ohioans deserve public services that help give them a leg up, and public-sector workers deserve the opportunities unions afford them to help improve their lives. Everyone does.

Let’s be clear: we’re not going anywhere and unions like ours are here to stay. Despite these schemes by outside special interests and billionaires to take us out, we are committed to organizing and building power for working people and to level the playing field so everyday Ohioans and our communities can thrive.

We all deserve that.