Assaults on the First Amendment continue as Republicans tried again unsuccessfully to pass Marco Rubio’s Combating BDS Act, a measure designed to protect Israel. Unfortunately, an act that criminalizes boycotts in one sphere may lead to criminalization of other boycotts and protests.
Reactionaries in state legislatures have enacted similar legislation to Rubio’s proposal. Legal restrictions on protests and demonstrations are becoming more common. Although frequently aimed at environmentalists, these restrictive laws can be expanded to include other protests including labor protests.
Attacks on Labor’s right to protest are a matter of record. The history of the Labor Movement is rife with accounts of legalized repression by reactionary politicians and their backers. If the First Amendment is infringed upon proponents of one cause, what guarantees its sanctity when infringed upon by another interest?
In Los Angeles, 30,000 teachers were striking for a reduction in class sizes, improvements in safety, accountability of charter schools and increases in wages and benefits commensurate with the skyrocketing cost of living in Los Angeles. LA’s striking teachers used their rights guaranteed by the first Amendment. Protecting those rights is a vital concern for the Labor Movement.
The boycott, the strike, the informational picket, leafletting and other actions and communications are the mainstays of protest and social progress. The First Amendment enshrines these activities as basic rights. They must be protected. Any doubt about the need to protect these rights disappears upon reading this Label Letter, numerous workers express their fear of retaliation for expressing workplace dissatisfaction.
