The foundational 1935 labor law protecting workers is unconstitutional, according to major corporations and right-wing zealots who believe they have enough votes on the Supreme Court to overturn it. In the latest sign that anti-union forces will doggedly press the matter, a federal judge for the Northern District of Texas enjoined the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from processing any allegations of employer violations of workers’ rights. The National Review hailed the decision as ​“A Welcome Blow to the NLRB.”

But, in trying to repeal all the rights and protections workers gained during the New Deal, including the limited protections that workers currently enjoy for organizing and engaging in collective bargaining, killing the 1935 National Labor Relations Act (also known as the Wagner Act) would also mean the lifting of a host of restrictions on unions’ ability to carry out solidarity activism and effective economic sanctions.

Assuming that the Supreme Court sticks to its cowardly practice of dumping its most unpopular decisions in the last week of the term in which it hears arguments, we have 20 months until the NLRB is shut down. In some ways, that is a luxurious amount of lead time for unions, which are capable of a tremendous amount of coordination. But debate and discussion need to begin now, not one year from now when the Supreme Court majority tips its hand during oral arguments. The right wing could not be clearer about their intentions. We must be ready.

  • Barx [none/use name]
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    41 month ago

    Unless unions plan and execute an extended general strike, there is literally no reason for anyone on the SC to care.