Leonard Leo\u2019s<\/a> orbit, are pressuring the Supreme Court to hamstring unions\u2019 power to strike for better working conditions, according to legal briefs reviewed by us. The organizations are vilifying unions as violent and aggressive in efforts to support a case that could crush unions\u2019 primary lever of power, at a time of surging strike activity and historically high support for unions among Americans.<\/p>\nFacing an increased union threat, a purportedly pro-union White House, and growing support for unions in Congress, corporations are turning to the Supreme Court \u2014 the corporate star chamber they helped fill with right-wing justices \u2014 to undercut worker power.<\/p>\n
The case at issue, Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters<\/em>, deals with a 2017 strike at a concrete-mixing company. During the work stoppage, Teamsters who drove cement mixers walked off the job and left their trucks running so that the cement wouldn\u2019t harden. But without the truck drivers, the company couldn\u2019t deliver the cement, and it hardened.<\/p>\nGlacier Northwest sued the union for $11,000 worth of damages, but the highest court in Washington state dismissed the case, arguing that the federal labor law that governs unions and strikes preempted the claim for damages.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court took up the case and held oral arguments last week. If the Supreme Court rules against the Teamsters, it could open the floodgates for corporations to sue unions for economic damages caused by strikes.<\/p>\n