Missourians have a lot to celebrate recently. The recent defeat of Proposition A, the so-called “Right to Work” ballot measure that would have weakened labor unions and lowered wages was a huge victory for Missouri workers that will protect our standard of living and ensure working families have a share in the current economic upturn.
Although over two-thirds of voters made their support for workers’ rights clear in Missouri, we still have more to do to secure a victory for workers.
With the recent confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, working families are facing new dangers. Kavanaugh is not a friend to workers. In fact, his track record when it comes to ruling against workers and unions suggests that he’s squarely on the side of the rich CEOs and corporations, not America’s working class.
In Missouri, we recognize the value of labor unions in raising wages, protecting worker rights and safety, and ensuring that people are treated fairly on the job. In a nation where CEOs make 271 times more than their employees, unions are still the main vehicle for making sure that workers derive some benefit from the profits and wealth they generate for the nation’s biggest companies and wealthy executives.
Unfortunately, Kavanaugh’s legal decisions have shown neither support for unions nor respect for the workers who are driving the current economic growth for which President Trump is claiming credit.
As a judge on lower courts, Kavanaugh sided against workers, arguing that a New York woodworking company should be able to avoid bargaining with their employees, members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, by creating a non-union spin off company. This is a common ploy among companies that want to avoid following the law, which requires employers to bargain in good faith with unions that represent their members over wages and working conditions. Workers in the non-union spin-off facility were paid lower wages.
He sided with the bosses again in 2008 when he was the only dissenter on a decision that ruled against a meatpacking company that violated the law by refusing to bargain with its unionized workers because they were undocumented immigrants, arguing that immigrant workers – who are often knowingly employed by companies seeking to exploit undocumented people – should be excluded from basic labor protections, safety and overtime pay.
In another high profile case in 2014, Kavanaugh disagreed with a ruling that upheld Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules against SeaWorld. OSHA had cited SeaWorld for safety violations that contributed to the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was killed by a killer whale in 2010.
Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court is bad news for workers and unions, which have already faced some big blows from the Court, including the Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 decision earlier this year that overturned a long-time precedent allowing unions to collect “fair share” fees from the public sector non-members they are required by law to represent. That legal decision will weaken public sector unions that represent workers performing critical services we all count on, including first responders, health care workers, teachers, and sanitation workers, making it harder to negotiate fair wages and working conditions or to advocate for improvements on the job.
Women – a growing share of union membership, particularly in the public sector – will be the most impacted by Janus. Two-thirds of unionized women work in public-sector jobs. Women in unions earn an average of 30 percent more than non-union women in comparable jobs and generally face a smaller gender wage gap than non-union women.
Today, women are half the workforce. Close to half of working women are the main breadwinners for their families, yet they still experience significant discrimination in wages and treatment on the job, including the kind of sexual harassment we’re seeing exposed across many sectors and levels of employment. Right now, unions are the best chance for women –and all workers – to improve these conditions and to bargain for better wages, benefits, and fairness on the job.
Though faced with a hostile Legislature, Missourians know that we have to expand and protect union rights for all Missouri workers. That’s why we voted overwhelmingly against Prop A, and that’s why we rejected the Paycheck Deception bill recently passed by the Missouri General assembly.
Fortunately, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, a long-time champion for women and for workers, has chosen to stand by Missouri families by rejecting Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. With Kavanaugh confirmed. though, it’s essential that all our elected officials continue to work to protect working families and be champions for union rights for all Missourians.
Natashia Pickens is president of CWA Local 6355.
