(Reuters) - 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.
That sort of labor dispute is a special category of legal action that the National Labor Relations Board has maintained original exclusive jurisdiction over for nearly 65 years, under Supreme Court precedent dating back to 1959.
The right to strike, including the attendant financial harms, is protected by the National Labor Relations Act. The statute responded to a turbulent history in U.S. labor relations, including violent suppression of workers by corporations and the government. It essentially erected a national structure to equalize the tremendous power imbalance between employers and employees, primarily by making worker organizing, collective bargaining – and strikes -- legally protected activities.
That said, the right isn’t without limitations. Conduct clearly outside the scope of a peaceful work stoppage can lose the act’s protection, and workers are required to take reasonable precautions to protect employers’ property from foreseeable harm.
The dispute taken up by the Supreme Court arose...
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