AFSCME - Supreme Court To Public Employees:'Your Conscience or Your Job'

WASHINGTON — Gerald W. McEntee, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, issued the following statement today in reaction to the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling limiting the free-speech rights of public employees:

"This decision gives constitutional sanction to those who would fire a public worker for stepping forward to preserve the integrity of our public institutions as a government whistleblower.

"Government employees should not be asked to sacrifice their First Amendment rights to work in the public sector. If we are serious as a society about achieving accountability and openness in government, we must hold public officials responsible for their actions. That means we ought to protect rank-and-file public employees who are courageous enough to risk their own careers to speak out about possible violations of the law or ethical breaches.

"Instead, the Supreme Court has sent a chilling warning to potential government whistleblowers that their anxiety about potential retaliation is well-founded. The Court has said to public employees, in effect: 'Your conscience or your job. You can't have both.'"

AFSCME is the largest union for workers in the public service with 1.4 million members nationwide. AFSCME represents a diverse group of service and health care workers in the public and private sectors including nurses, corrections officers, EMTs, and child care providers.

AFSCME’s 1.6 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in hundreds of different occupations – from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers – AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families.

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American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO
1625 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-5687
Telephone (202) 429-1145
Fax (202) 429-1120