Republican Supreme Court Looking To Knee-Cap Public Unions, Democratic Party

As we note below, the influence of right- wing billionaire money is a pervasive, continuing threat to American democracy.  The Citizens United decision opened the floodgates to unlimited Republican plutocrat money to fund the nihilist, government- hamstringing crackpots you see in the House and Senate, as well as throughout the States.  Unions are one of the few counterweights to the oligarchs, and a bedrock supporter of Democrats and progressive causes. But, it would appear that, while corporations are considered "people" (my friend), unions are apparently fair game to these malicious mossbacks.

Now, the plutocrat- enabling, partisan Republican Supreme Court is considering the case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which challenges a public sector union's (in this case the California Teachers Association's) right to collect union dues from teachers who aren't union members.  The right of such unions to collect these "agency fees" was established by precedent nearly 40 years ago in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education.  The plaintiff's case is being argued by uber wingnut libertarian attorney Michael A. Carvin, the same dickbag who has tried to take down Obamacare in the past.  (He works for an Koch brothers funded outfit called Center for Individual Rights, by the way.)  It seems he has abiding issues with the 21st Century.

You might ask, why is this such a big deal?  We'll let frequent blind squirrel Dana Milbank, who found this acorn, explain:

By all appearances at Monday’s argument, the five Republican-appointed justices are ready to upend a 40-year precedent guiding labor relations in favor of a new approach that will deplete public-sector unions’ finances and reduce their political clout. The case, from California, involves arcane issues of “agency fees” and member opt-outs, but make no mistake: This is about campaign finance, and, in particular, propping up the Republican Party.  [snip]

The only question is how big a loss Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association will be for the unions. It’s virtually certain to be another step toward American oligarchy. The court’s conservative majority, setting aside a professed respect for precedent and states’ authority, is putting a thumb on the scale of justice in favor of the wealthy donors who have purchased the GOP and much of the government.

With the emergence of (ironically, self-funding plutocrat) neo-fascist fartbag Donald "Rump" Trump and his Stormtrumper legions with their mis-directed anger, bookended by the possible crippling of one of the major supporters of the Democratic Party, you are seeing a powerful convergence of right- wing reaction to progressive gains in the past several decades.  If the California teachers association case is decided in favor of the plaintiffs, it could signal problems ahead not just for public unions, but for unions in the private sector who've been under siege by the same forces of reaction for half a century.

BONUS:  Steve M. has a good read on the same subject.

Helping America's Working Families

Many of the things we take for granted on Labor Day -- the forty hour work week, minimum wage laws, and regulations governing safe working conditions, civil rights and voting rights, for example -- are the direct result of action by organized labor.  Concerted efforts by corporate and industrial powers over the last 50 years, working through their wholly-owned Republican Party, have had a negative effect on union membership and on organized labor's ability to act as a countervailing force against corporate greed.  Income inequality that has grown over that same 50 years directly correlates to declining union membership.

There was hope in the aftermath of the Dems control of the White House and Congress following the  2008 elections that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would be enacted and make it simpler for workers to unionize.  In the summer of 2009, several Conserva-Dems turned their backs on labor and joined with Senate Rethuglicans to block consideration of the bill, and, facing Rethuglican obstruction, the bill has remained in limbo ever since.

Now that there is renewed public concern about income inequality, it's more important than ever that key issues be addressed: increase in the living wage to $15/hr., paid family leave (the U.S. is last in the industrialized world), and ensuring that free trade is fair trade, where U.S. workers have a level playing field with foreign workers.  These and other kitchen table concerns are at the core of what organized labor is fighting for, facing unrelenting push-back from corporate America and the right wing.  We have to fight along with them.