The U.S. Supreme Court appears set to deliver on another longstanding conservative policy goal in its first major labor law case this term, with a ruling that could hobble workers’ right to strike, amid a resurgence of worker organizing and a cost-of-living crisis.

The justices decided on Oct. 4 to consider whether businesses can sue unions in state court for the economic consequences of strikes and other employee protests, like spoiled products. [...]

The petition is backed by corporate groups seeking new and potentially expansive powers to recoup money from unions for financial harms incidental to labor activity. It’s also supported by conservative groups like the Landmark Legal Foundation, one of the leading organizations behind the “school choice” movement for expanding religious education, and an opponent of teachers' unions since the 1990s.[...]

There have been at least 316 strikes so far in 2022, up from 257 strikes in 2021, according to the Labor Action Tracker project at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. At least 240 company-owned Starbucks Corp locations have unionized in roughly the past year.

20 Oct 22