Congressman Cohen Condemns Supreme Court’s Anti-Union Janus Ruling

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, said today's predictable 5-4 ruling against the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) will have the effect of diminishing wages for working- and middle-class Americans, furthering income inequality, and is a direct result of the failure of the U.S. Senate to confirm President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. He made the following statement:

"Yet again we are witnessing the consequences of the U.S. Senate's refusal to even consider President Obama's last Supreme Court nominee. By holding that nomination hostage for nearly a year, Mitch McConnell and the Senate majority gave the Court a stolen swing vote that once again harms not just public employees like our teachers, police officers and other public servants, but will adversely affect every working American. The Supreme Court today undermined four decades of precedent protecting the rights of American workers to collectively bargain and fight for fair, livable wages at a time when income inequality is at an all-time high – a clear misinterpretation of the First Amendment. All employees benefit from collective bargaining and all employees should pay for that representation. The Janus ruling, like Citizens United, further empowers the powerful at democracy's expense. This is yet another truly terrible 5-4 ruling."