Brian Bryant, International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), issued a statement on April 29 following the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which reduced the power of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The decision is significant because Section 2 was designed to address discriminatory voting practices and protect voting rights for Black Americans. The ruling has raised concerns among labor leaders about its potential impact on democracy and worker representation.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a direct attack on workers and our democracy. The court has effectively gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the very provision designed to end Jim Crow-era gerrymandering and expand voting protections for Black people across the South,” Bryant said in his statement.
Bryant also connected voting rights with labor rights, saying, “The right to vote and the right to organize are connected. IAM Union represents hundreds of thousands of workers of every background across North America, and we know that when any worker’s voice is silenced at the ballot box, all workers lose.”
He described current barriers such as voter ID laws, racial gerrymandering, long lines at polling places, and misinformation campaigns as ongoing threats to fair access to voting. “Repressive voter ID laws, racial gerrymandering, long lines, and voter misinformation campaigns are the modern tools of disenfranchisement. The Supreme Court has now made it harder to fight them,” he said.
Bryant called for legislative action: “Congress must act immediately to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act. This is not a Democrat issue or a Republican issue. Workers deserve a democracy that works for all of them, not just the billionaires and people in power.”
