Waching daily Jan 30 2018

Unions empower workers with the freedom to negotiate for a fair return on their work

and they provide a collective voice to advocate for policies that benefit working people.

This is the 50th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike in 1968, after two

workers were crushed in garbage compactors.

Memphis sanitation workers peacefully protested for better pay and safer working conditions.

They sought representation from the

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME.

They marched with placards that simply stated, "I AM A MAN."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. long recognized that the fight for civil rights was fundamentally

linked to economic justice, and he gave his last public address before his assassination

on behalf of these workers.

The unions representing the workers in the public sector continue to empower our workers

in communities today.

Just this month, when temperatures plagued -- plunged to dangerous lows,

the Baltimore Teachers Union fought for children who are forced to bundle up in coats and hats in their

own classrooms because there was no heat in their schools.

Whether in the Supreme Court or here in Congress, the campaign to weaken unions is a campaign

to strip workers of their most basic protections.

This is why it is crucial for Congress to defend against any attacks to undermine workers'

freedom to negotiate for better wages and better working conditions.

This is clearly an attack on freedoms and liberties of hardworking Americans.

All this case aims to do is take away the rights of the ability of hardworking Americans

to have a strong voice in their workplace.

That is just not right.

This case is yet another attempt by billionaires and corporations to stop working people from

joining unions altogether.

So we must ensure that working people, people of color, everyone, continues to have the

right to join a union.

It's the right thing for our economy, it's the right thing for our community.

And here we are in the wealthiest nation in the world where millionaires and billionaires

are lining their pockets with profits.

And at the same time, we have workers who are before the Supreme Court just seeking

dignity to be organized through labor and labor unions.

When our first responders, teachers and public sector workers come together and form strong

unions, they win benefits like better working conditions, better wages, health care, and

retirement security, which also benefit non-union members.

As our economy shifts, and the wealth gap grows, the protective power of unions must

be strengthened, not weakened.

Without the freedom to come together, working people would not have the power in numbers

they need to make our communities and our country more prosperous.

And I wanna say, if you care about income inequality, if you care about prosperity for

working people, you gotta get on the side of fighting against this Janus decision.