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.
Bryant said this decision has significant consequences for workers and democracy in the United States. He argued that weakening Section 2 removes protections meant to prevent discriminatory practices such as gerrymandering and limits voting rights for Black Americans.
“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.
He linked 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.”
Bryant also described modern barriers to voting as “repressive voter ID laws, racial gerrymandering, long lines, and voter misinformation campaigns.” He said these have become tools for disenfranchisement and that by its decision, “the Supreme Court has now made it harder to fight them.”
Calling for legislative action, Bryant concluded: “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.”
