Shaun Richman is a labor organizer. He writes here that a negative decision against unions might bring unintended consequences that reinvigorate the labor movement.
“The deep-pocketed backers of Janus aim to bankrupt unions and strip them of whatever power they still have, but if the court rules that an interaction a union has with the government is political speech, they might not be so happy with the results. Many have noted that such an overreaching and inconsistent decision could have unintended consequences by granting a heretofore denied constitutional right to collective bargaining and transforming thousands of workplace disputes into constitutional controversies.
“What the Janus backers (and most commentators) miss is that agency fees are not just compensation for the financial costs of representation, but for the political costs of representing all the members in the bargaining unit and maintaining labor peace. As AFSCME’s attorney pointed out in his oral arguments, the agency fee is routinely traded for a no-strike clause in most union contracts. Should those clauses disappear, employers will have chaos and discord on their hands.”
A fascinating article.
By the way, Betsy DeVos attended the oral arguments at the Supreme Courts. She has nothing else to do, and she has invested millions in crushing unions.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
According to the long standing doctrines of the Catholic Church, union busting is a mortal sin. The earliest mention of this I know of is the 1891 encyclical by pope Leo on labor and capital. He rails against socialism but staunchly supports workers rights to organize and bargain collectively as a way to offset the power of ownership. Today, the church’s positions on unions, right to work lies and other workers/labor issues can be found at http://www.catholicscholarsforworkerjustice.org
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There is a foolish and malinformed assumption on the part of union busters that teachers can be replaced as easily as the air traffic controllers that Regan betrayed. The teacher shortages give the lie to that. Those who want to transform the citizenry into uneducated serfs have no problem with letting anyone with a pulse stand in front of students and call that teaching. The nation cannot afford to indulge in that stupidity. Teachers are being disrespected and treated badly in much the same way that Vietnam veterans were, few understand what the job entails just as few understood what the war was actually like and just how badly the politicians screwed things up for our soldiers.
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Concerning Vietnam and education, read and share this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/30/the-vietnamization-of-public-education/
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Thank you, Jon. What you wrote resonates.
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If we were living in a time of declining or modest class warfare, the effects of Janus would not be so potentially severe (of course, if we were living in a time of declining class warfare, Janus wouldn’t be happening). But since class warfare – up to now, as Warren Buffett indiscretely admitted in 2006, entirely consisting of aggressive victories by Capital over Labor – is intensifying, a very likely result will be more strikes, and eventually violent ones, which is what the National labor Relations Act was intended to avoid.
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The problem is that with no political speech by labor unions the only thing most people will hear is policy endorsed by corporations and monied interests.
We’re already inundated with it. Wait until it’s the only game in town. At least labor unions provided some small measure of competition. Now it’ll be 100% huge companies and speech backed by wealthy people.
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How about the union doing a better job of representing the interests of teachers? Right now, what can be done about them doing a lousy job? Nothing as far as I know. NYSUT deserves to go out of business. That said, a new union is desperately needed; one that is responsive to its members. The NYSUT newspaper is filled with all the usual left-wing nonsense. The latest issue includes an article promoting NYSUT’s endorsement of five Democrats in special elections for the Assembly and Senate. I don’t want my dues paying for this garbage.
NYSUT has done nothing while Cuomo and the Assembly Democrats watered down tenure rights, required a fourth year of probation before a teacher is eligible for tenure, created two new retirement tiers that require members to contribute up to 6% of their salary for their entire career, cap at $15,000 the pension credit for stuff like club advisorships, coaching, chaperoning, etc and credit each year of service at a rate substantially below Tiers 1-4, signed off on a horrific APPR system, authorized hundreds of charter schools, etc.
NYSUT once was a great union. I think of Tom Hobart and what a wonderful man and leader he was. Sadly, we haven’t had anyone of his quality since he left.
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The history of unions suggests a return to confrontation. This took places against a backdrop of the necessity of many people at work to produce something. The Rogue River plant in Detroit saw thousands of workers walk into it every day. Automation has changed this. I wonder if the labor movement will ever return in the face of robotics and machine manufacturing. I keep thinking of Player Piano, by Vonnegut.
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If the Supreme Court rules against unions based on the First Amendment, that may backfire. Of course, I wouldn’t put it past the USC to declare that this ruling is restricted to the particular case, similar to Bush v. Gore.
For too long, the collective actions of unions have been restricted by one court after another.
We’re at the point where Corporations (via Citizens United) have more free speech than unions.
The International Union of Operating Engineers has already gotten the ball rolling. They have filed suit against the village of Lincolnshire, IL, for using public tax dollars to pay for a lobbyist group that supports cutting pensions and public employee pay. The suit cites the Janus argument against paying for “compelled speech” opposed by the plaintiffs.
http://www.local150.org/local-150-sues-lincolnshire-over-right-to-work-law/
https://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/511349866-union-member-sues-lincolnshire-says-village-can-t-support-group-that-lobbied-for-rauner-reform-agenda
They IUOE has also filed suit against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his Act 10 (which restricts what issues a public employee union may bargain about), again based on the First Amendment claims Janus is citing.
Click to access WiscoUnions.pdf
http://laborpress.org/wisconsin-iuoe-locals-sue-walker-for-free-speech-violations/
There may be a silver lining, after all, although I’m not holding my breath.
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Isn’t it funny that Janus is a Roman God in mythology….a gate keeper looking to the future and looking to the past. He is depicted as a 2 faced/headed deity. The Janus in the Supreme Court case is 2 faced (sorta)….he likes what the union does for his paycheck and benefits, yet doesn’t like that the same union has political ties which he doesn’t represent.
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