Joint statement from Senate Democratic leadership, Labor Committee members on Janus v. AFSCME

DOVER – Five Democratic senators comprising the Senate Majority Caucus' leadership and members of the Senate Labor Committee (President Pro Tempore David B. McBride; Senate Majority Leader Margaret Rose Henry; Senate Majority Whip Nicole Poore; Senate Labor Committee Chair Robert Marshall; and Sen. John "Jack" Walsh) released the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Janus v. AFSCME:

"Our Caucus remains committed to the idea that unions matter, that workers have every right to stand together, and that undermining unions’ ability to provide benefits like legal representation and collective bargaining hurts the entire middle class, whether they’re in a union or not. We remain committed to a vision of a state and a country where the social and economic playing fields are level and where equal opportunity is a fundamental principle. We remain committed to working families and we oppose any and every attempt to undo the progress that made our country what it is today.
 
There’s no way around it: the Janus decision is a strike to public unions. But make no mistake – this doesn’t just affect teachers, police, and other public employees. This is a bad omen for all unions and for the middle class, and it’s far from an isolated instance. The middle class was built on the sacrifices and advocacy of organized labor. And yet for decades union members have had to fight tooth and nail against a wave of bumper sticker slogans like “right to work,” insults like “thug,” and a steady erosion of collective bargaining at a time when both parties purport to represent working men and women."