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Ellison joins amicus brief to U.S. Supreme Court defending right to strike [1]
['Michelle Griffith', 'More From Author', '- December']
Date: 2022-12
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and 15 other state attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief to uphold an employee’s right to self-organize and protest.
At question in the case, Glacier Northwest Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174, is whether federal law bars a Washington concrete company from suing a local labor union for calling a strike that led to destruction of property.
In 2017, Glacier Northwest and a local Teamsters union were in a labor dispute, and their collective bargaining agreement had expired. The union called a strike while they were in the middle of negotiating a new agreement. Some drivers for Glacier Northwest were delivering mixed concrete when the strike was called, and they left the job to participate in the strike — leaving the concrete to harden and become unusable.
Glacier Northwest sued the union, arguing that the concrete was intentionally destroyed and the destruction of property wasn’t protected by the union’s right to strike. The Washington Supreme Court ruled that the strike was protected under the National Labor Relations Act, so the National Labor Relations Board should determine whether the union’s actions were reasonable.
The company appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments for the case in January. The current makeup of the court, including six Republican appointees, is widely viewed as unfavorable to organized labor.
Minnesota and the 15 other states in their amicus brief argue that a ruling in favor of Glacier Northwest would weaken the National Labor Relations Act and employee bargaining power.
If the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the concrete company, strikes that would destroy an employer’s product wouldn’t be allowed, according to the amicus brief.
“The right to strike is one of the most important tools workers have to fight for their rights and afford their lives,” Ellison said in a statement Tuesday. “… I will always fight to protect workers’ legal rights to strike and to organize.”
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https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/ellison-joins-amicus-brief-to-u-s-supreme-court-defending-right-to-strike/
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