Democratic Senate Candidate Shenna Bellows Slams Supreme Court Overreach In Harris V. Quinn Ruling Undermining Organized Labor
Press Release
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Shenna Bellows released the following statement today on the Supreme Court's Harris v. Quinn ruling, which effectively ends unions' ability to collect dues from some of the people who benefit from their collective bargaining power.
"The working people of this country earn higher wages and better benefits when they bargain collectively. The labor movement brought Americans out of an era when pay was abysmal, health care coverage was often nonexistent and child labor laws were weak. Today we're facing challenges just as serious: weakening pensions, a badly out-of-date minimum wage, a Social Security system under constant political attack and endless fights over wage and labor standards that shouldn't be controversial. Organized labor raises the living standards of millions of Americans, helping them pay their bills and take care of their families. Today's ruling strikes another blow against the support system those families rely on. Every public sector union worker today wondering who will stand with with them in the next Congress should know I'll have their back. They need allies to fight with them against the Court's steady erosion of their power, and I can't wait to join them as Maine's next senator."
Bellows has been endorsed by AFSCME Council 93, representing more than 45,000 state, county and municipal employees in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. She also has the support of the Maine AFL-CIO, a federation of 150 local unions statewide representing 26,000 workers, 5 central labor councils and six national union and industry councils, as well as every Maine local of the American Postal Workers Union and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council, Maine State Employees Association-Service Employees International Union, Maine State Nurses Association, Teamsters Local 340, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 716, Amalgamated Transit Union 714, Iron Workers Local 7, LiUNA Local 327 and United Steelworkers Local 449.
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