Washington, DC—Following is a statement from Christine Owens, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project:

“On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice switched sides in a case before the Supreme Court, joining forces with corporations that require their workers to give up their day in court.

“In NLRB v. Murphy Oil, gas stations forced their workers to agree not to bring cases in court. Workers could only pursue ‘binding arbitration’ as individuals, and they were not allowed to team up to bring cases together. By design, these agreements violate workers’ rights to advocate for their rights collectively, so much so that the NLRB found these agreements to violate the core principles of the National Labor Relations Act.

“In switching sides now, the Trump administration has not only abandoned 85 years of labor law precedent, but also showed its disdain for working people and their ability to stand up for what they believe is right. NELP plans to fight this shameful Trump administration reversal that would further rig our legal system against working people and give even more power to corporations.”

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