AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, which allows the president to fire members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The federation submitted an amicus brief in the case in November calling on the Supreme Court to uphold the independence of federal agencies:
The Supreme Court today sided with President Trump in Trump v. Slaughter, giving the president the power to fire members of the FTC for any reason, or no reason at all—with presumably widespread consequences for many independent federal agencies, including potentially those that protect workers’ rights.
The court’s ruling today will further embolden big corporations that willingly break the law to trample our rights. For 90 years, the independence of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been central to the agency’s mission of protecting the fundamental rights of workers to organize on the job free of political interference. Along with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) and National Mediation Board, the NLRB provides the legal avenue for workers to fight back against bad bosses and violations of their rights in the workplace.
Today’s ruling threatens their independence and ensures that every future member of these boards will wonder whether the president is watching over their shoulders, ready to try to fire them for any ruling they disagree with. Workers seeking to organize their workplace or file charges against an employer could ultimately face boards that answer to the president, not the law. Giving Trump the power to hand-pick political loyalists to decide those cases—and carry out his own anti-worker agenda—corrupts the entire process.
The labor movement has been here before. Decades of worker organizing and strikes forced Congress to act, creating a legal path to justice that didn’t exist before. No Supreme Court decision can take away workers’ will to organize, or stop our fight for workers’ rights on the job.
Contact: Dylan Manshack, 202-637-5018