On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of corporate special interests in the Janus vs. AFSCME case. This is a case funded by a handful of billionaires trying to stop workers from coming together in strong unions.

It doesn’t matter if you work in health care, in a school or in an office. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black or brown. It doesn’t matter if you are poor or middle-class. Our unions are where we come together to create better lives for our families and better public services for our communities. This court case can’t stop that.

I work at Mayo Clinic in Albert Lea and am a four-year union member with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. Some in the media are calling this a blow to unions, and we know that is the real goal of the well-funded backers of this case. But families in Albert Lea know a thing or two about standing up for each other in the face of attacks on labor. We’ve fought against the odds before, and we will rise up to this challenge as well.

Minnesotans want a state that works for all of our families, not just the rich and powerful. Nothing, and certainly not a court case, will stop us from sticking together in our union so we can fight for better lives for our families.

Leslie Kaup

Albert Lea