The Republican-appointed justices have ruled to undermine unions by making it harder for workers to organize. Corporations and billionaires win when unions lose, not only because they can get away with paying lower wages and providing fewer benefits – but because it makes it harder for workers to organize to support pro-worker policies and candidates. The Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME was its latest anti-union decision, and it’s clear that corporate interests will be asking the Court to go even further in coming years.

Forced arbitration is a process corporations use to avoid being held accountable for breaking the rules. In short, they make workers and consumers sign contracts saying – often in fine print – that even if they hurt consumers or discriminate against employees, they can’t be sued in court. Instead, workers or consumers hurt by big corporations are forced into a private arbitration process in which the corporation chooses the arbitrator who acts as the judge, and the worker or consumer has extremely few options for seeking a remedy. 

Though these cases don’t always make headlines, rulings from the Republican-appointed justices on the Supreme Court have helped turn forced arbitration into a widespread practice that stops consumers and workers from being able to use the courts to stand up to the rich and the powerful when they break the law.