Brian Bryant, International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), responded on April 29 to the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which significantly weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The issue matters because Section 2 was designed to protect voting rights and prevent discrimination, particularly for Black voters in the South. The IAM Union represents about 600,000 workers across North America.
Bryant said, “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.”
He also linked voting rights with labor rights: “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.”
Bryant described modern barriers such as voter ID laws, racial gerrymandering, long lines at polling places, and misinformation campaigns as ongoing forms of disenfranchisement. He said these challenges will become harder to address after this ruling: “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 concluded by calling 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.”
