Miller: Harris v. Quinn Decision Ignores Realities of Modern Workplace
WASHINGTON—Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, released the following statement today in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Harris v. Quinn, in which the Court ruled that in-home health care workers in Illinois who are paid by the state are not similar enough to full-fledged government employees to be compelled to pay union dues.
"It is unfortunate and discouraging that the Supreme Court disregarded both 40 years of legal precedent and the will of the people of Illinois in order to undermine the rights of home health care workers. The decision ignores the reality of the modern workplace, where partial employment and contingent work arrangements are becoming more widespread. With caregiving demands increasing dramatically as baby boomers age, the support labor unions provide to home care workers is critical to maintaining a stable and qualified workforce. The silver lining is that the Court rejected the extreme efforts by the petitioners to ban fair share arrangements for public employees generally. Workers must be allowed to exercise their fundamental right to participate in a union. And today’s Supreme Court decision will strengthen our vigilance to protect that right.”
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