Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D.) and Ed Markey (D.) on Monday spoke at a Boston rally supporting the right of public-sector unions to extract mandatory dues.
These Democrats made the case that the Supreme Court should maintain government agencies’ right to mandate so-called fair share fees, Mass Live reported. They joined with union leaders to fight for the defendant in this case, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Council 31, as the Supreme Court was hearing oral arguments about it.
The senators from the Bay State said the case against mandated fees is a scheme by Republicans’ billionaire donors.
"For years, big corporations and billionaire donors and their Republican allies have launched one assault after another against unions and against working people," Warren said. "Corporations and anti-union forces are doing everything they can to tilt the scales in their favor...We're here today because we have not given up. We're ready to fight back."
Markey agreed, adding that President Donald Trump wants to destroy all unions in America.
"This case is an attack on working people brought by billionaires," Markey said. "Donald Trump and his Republican Party want to break every single union that exists today and make sure that no one can organize tomorrow."
The mandatory fees at stake in this case are permitted in 22 states and prohibited in 26. The justification for them, held up in the 1977 case Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, is that workers in unionized workplaces benefit from union activity and therefore should pay dues of some kind to the union even if they are not a member.
The plaintiff, Mark Janus, is arguing that public-sector unions are inherently political because they affect budgetary matters and make claims to taxpayer money. Thus, Janus’ case maintains that the mandatory fees are a form of compelled speech, an argument AFSCME has called "ridiculous."
AFSCME International President Lee Saunders came to the Boston rally from Washington, D.C., and said the case has nothing to do with free speech—and that his opponents can "go straight to hell."
"This case isn't about free speech," Saunders said. "This case is about political power. This case is about those who have wealth and power in this country, they want more wealth and power at the expense of all of you. They can go straight to hell, because we're fighting back."
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also dismissed the plaintiff’s argument about free speech.
"They have this new view on unions and free speech. That there is nothing that a union can do that doesn't implicate the First Amendment," Weingarten said.
The Liberty Justice Center is providing Janus’ legal representation, and the group has received financial support from conservative philanthropists. Federalist Society executive vice president Leonard Leo described Richard Uihlein, a prominent supporter of the Liberty Justice Center, as "philosophically attuned to conservative ideas."