National Nurses United

4 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G M AY | J U N E 2 0 1 8 NATIONAL F or the 150,000 unionized regis- tered nurse members of National Nurses United, the outcome in Janus v. AFSCME was no surprise, but still hurtful and scary nonetheless. Nurses understand that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on June 27 to roll back decades of union and worker rights poses a significant threat to their patients' safety, as well as worker and community health and economic standards. Simply put, what Janus does is threaten the very existence of unions by allowing pub- lic-sector employees to shirk on paying dues to their unions, even though the unions are still representing them in fighting for better pay, benefits, and working conditions. Lawyers representing Mark Janus, funded by extremely right-wing, corporate billionaires, had argued that being required to pay dues violated the free speech rights of employees who may not support the same political views as their union. But a 40-year old Supreme Court case, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, already settled that issue by allowing employees to decline from funding the purely political activities of their union. They still paid dues to support union activi- ties that represented them in their employ- ment. Now even that obligation has been wiped out. Under Janus, the court broke with established law and court precedent set by the Abood case to allow public workers to refuse to pay any dues or fees, even though unions are required to represent all employ- ees covered under a union contract. Nurses know Janus was not about First Amendment rights. "Janus is a gift to bil- lionaires, corporate executives and far right lobbying groups that have worked for years to destroy worker rights and unions," said Deborah Burger, RN and a member of the National Nurses United Council of Presi- dents. "It also harms women and people of color who have historically had more eco- nomic opportunity in public workplaces in contrast to decades of discrimination by private employers." The ultimate goal, however, is broader than simply undermining unions and work- ers. The corporate class understands that unions represent one of the last and only lines of defense against a world order where it can operate for maximum profit, without concern for regulations to ensure clean air, water, or food; without concern for the health, safety, and dignity of employees; without concern for any obstacle that unions regularly pose to its business prac- tices. They seek to privatize all institutions that serve the public, particularly those that provide health care and education. "They want to remove any opposition to their agenda of eliminating all protections on public health and safety, in health care, environmental pollution, clear air and water, food safety, and workplace standards, that they see as an impediment to their profits and authoritarian power," said Bon- nie Castillo, RN and executive director of NNU. "That's why they have targeted unions in both the public and private sector who, with tens of millions of members, are a powerful voice for working people to unite to defend our communities and nation." The day of the high court's decision, NNU registered nurses, along with other unions, staged rallies in cities where they have a concentration of public-sector col- leagues, to show that they will continue to speak up for themselves and their patients. Nurses protested in Chicago, where NNU represents the nurses of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System; in Sacra- mento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, where NNU represents 14,000 Janus decision threatens unions, patients RNs vow to continue their advocacy NEWS BRIEFS

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