At a time when labor unions in our country are under attack, Democratic leaders in Congress are speaking out for working families and their freedom to join together in strong unions.
Expanding on their “Better Deal” platform to help America’s working families, U.S. Senate and House leaders unveiled a plan to protect workers’ freedom to negotiate with employers, penalize companies that violate workers’ rights and strengthen workers’ ability to form strong unions.
AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders stood alongside congressional leaders at a press conference Wednesday to announce the new proposal.
“With working families taking it on the chin, with wages virtually flat and income inequality tearing at our national fabric, we need strong labor unions now more than ever,” Saunders said. “Unions don’t just fight for their own members; they lift wages, benefits and working conditions for everyone.”
In fact, an AFSCME report released this week shows exactly how strong unions create stronger communities.
“Right when unions are needed most, we’re under withering attack from corporate special interests and their political allies,” Saunders said. “They want to rig the rules of the economy, taking away the freedom of working people to stand together and negotiate a fair return on their work.”
For years, corporations and wealthy special interests have been funding attacks against unions through the courts. The latest attack, Janus v. AFSCME, has reached the Supreme Court and threatens to silence the voices of public service workers by undermining their ability to join together in strong unions.
Watch Senate leaders as they spoke up Wednesday for working people and against the attacks that threaten their freedom to form strong unions: