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Calling upon the Kenney administration to support the rights of public sector workers threatened in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31 soon to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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WHEREAS, Unions have played a crucial role in raising the standard of living for members and non-members alike, using the power of advocacy and collective action to transform the relationship between labor and management; and
WHEREAS, The gains accrued through union advocacy include better healthcare coverage, higher wages, improved worker safety and workplace conditions, and a more secure retirement; and
WHEREAS, Unions have played a particularly prominent role in lifting up the working-class families of Philadelphia and giving back to the communities that their members call home; and
WHEREAS, As labor protections have been rolled back and both the numbers and protections of union membership have been eroded by governmental and private policy, public sector unions have remained a vital piece of the labor movement; and
WHEREAS, In 1977, the United States Supreme Court held in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education that the agency shop clauses are valid, upholding union service charges for collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment purposes; and
WHEREAS, The ability of unions to capture the value of the services they must provide fairly and equally to workers was narrowly preserved last year by a split decision of the Supreme Court in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association; and
WHEREAS, Free riding on union services, and therefore on fellow workers who go out of their way to remit service charges, is once again threatened by the potential outcome of Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31; and
WHEREAS, The loss of compensation for services will severely hamper public sector unions’ ability to effectively represent workers and their families, and further erode the wellbeing of workers, individually and collectively; and
WHEREAS, It is incumbent upon the administration to continue to support the rights and dignity of workers and the ability of unions – including in the public sector – to be compensated for the irreplaceable benefits they provide to our citizens and to the City; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That this Council does hereby call upon the Kenney administration to support the rights of public sector workers threatened in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31 soon to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Office of Mayor James F. Kenney as evidence of the sentiments of this legislative body.
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