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Building Bridges
Mon, Jan 23, 2023 19:00 PM
Marjorie Cohn, prof. emerita Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former pres. of the National Lawyers Guild and legal scholar and political analyst who lectures throughout the world about human rights
The Supreme Court has already demonstrated that it is out to protect corporations and disempower workers; now, an impending ruling could obliterate workers right to strike.
The Supreme Court has just heard oral arguments in Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174 and is set to hand down its ruling by June 2023 that could evisterate the right to strike. Marjorie Cohn describe the strike that led to the anti-union lawsuit:
Eighty-five truck drivers walked off the job. Sixteen of them whose trucks had been loaded with cement but hadnt made their deliveries returned the trucks to the employer, leaving the trucks running to prevent the concrete from hardening. Glacier was unable to deliver all of the concrete and had to dispose of it. The trucks, however, were not damaged.
Why the anti-union lawsuit now being considered by the Supreme Court was at first lawfully dismissed: ...an employer must obtain a ruling from the NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] saying that the workers strike was not federally protected before it can file a lawsuit against the union in state court. If the NLRB decides the unions action is 'arguably' protected by the NLRA [National Labor Relations Act], the state court doesnt have jurisdiction to hear the case.
Cohn Concludes: Given the political makeup of the court, it will likely rule that the drivers conduct was not protected by the NLRA and allow Glaciers state court lawsuit to proceed. ... The radical right-wing Supreme Court is about to deal a severe blow to the right to strike -- the most potent weapon workers have to obtain justice.
The Supreme Court has already demonstrated that it is out to protect corporations and disempower workers; now, an impending ruling could obliterate workers right to strike.
