Alabama AFL-CIO President Bren Riley released the following statement on Tuesday in response to “attempts to further strip workers of voting representation” following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais:
“It’s sickening to see how quickly corporate-backed politicians around the South are racing to rearrange our congressional districts following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Louisiana v. Callais.
“Over six decades ago, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law to make sure that all people, regardless of your skin color, could cast a ballot without discrimination. The freedom to have an equal say in who represents us is the most basic principle of our democracy, but now one of the last remaining defenses we had against racist, gerrymandered voting maps is gone.
“Any trade unionist can tell you that what is decided in Washington D.C. and in our state legislatures has a direct impact on what we can win at the bargaining table. When voting maps are redrawn to suppress the voices of our Black and brown brothers and sisters, all workers suffer because these efforts only give power-hungry billionaires more leverage to dismantle our labor rights.”
The Alabama AFL-CIO is the largest federation of local unions and labor councils in the state.
