As if working Americans didn't have enough trouble making ends meet, no matter how many jobs they have, the U.S. Supreme Court has thrown up another obstacle in their struggle toward justice in the workplace, by giving employers free rein to stop workers from bringing class action law suits against the employing class.

On May 21, the court, in Epic Systems Corp. vs. Lewis, ruled in accordance with President Trump and Corporate America to give employers the go-ahead to force their workers to sign away their right to join together in a class-action suit, when they have a dispute with the employer, say, over stolen wages, or unsafe working conditions, discrimination, or any other injustice that might be perpetrated against them.

For some years, employers have required new hires to sign such agreements, even though it might have been on shaky ground legally. Now, however, they can force workers to give up their rights with the blessing of the U.S. Supreme Court, no less. It's just another piece of the ruling class' decades-long effort to make the entire wage-working population powerless in the workplace and, by the way, powerless in the nation at large.

You don't have to be a prize-winning economist to know that wages and incomes of workers have been stagnant for 30 years or more. That's not an accident for, while workers' standard of living has been flat for all those years, those at the top of the heap have seen their incomes and wealth grow exponentially. It's a recipe for disaster, which may be just around the corner economically.

Picture an applicant looking for a job who finally gets an interview at a company that would pay a decent wage and provide some benefits. When it comes time to sign the agreement to once again be employed, the interviewer says, “Oh yes, one more thing. It's this little agreement that you never will join in a class-action lawsuit against the company for any reason. Sign here.” The applicant is sitting there, not having worked in six months or a year or longer. What's she going to say? “Sure, I'll sign. What could possibly go wrong?”

Despite all of the rah-rah from the mainstream papers, business magazines, and television finance and economic “experts,” the employment picture is not as rosy as they make it out to be. The official unemployment figures do not tell the whole story. It long has been known that the unemployment rate has not included those who have stopped looking for work. They're neither employed, nor unemployed. They just don't count and they number in the millions. Many have been cut loose from their jobs in downsizing or company flight to lower-wage countries and their prospects for jobs at their previous rates of pay are non-existent. They are working at half the hourly rate of pay that they previously made, if they are working at all. Untold numbers are just waiting, working minimum wage jobs until they can collect Social Security or a pension (those lucky enough to have one).

In writing the 5-4 decision, Justice Neil Gorsuch came down squarely on the side of those with the power in the workplace, while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed her dissent by reading her opinion aloud in court, something not usually done. She knows that the workplace can be an unfriendly place for workers and, since the overwhelming percentage of workers do not work under a union contract, they are subject to the whim of the employer regarding nearly every issue. Without a union contract, workers are employed “at will,” meaning they can be dismissed summarily.

Nothing less than being an extra man on the management staff of every company and corporation should have been expected of Gorsuch, who was named to the court by President Trump, who has shown his disdain for working men and women long before he decided to seek political office. For him, holding the office of president is no different from being the head of a stereotypical capitalist corporation. As head of such a corporation, he could make decisions according to his “gut,” which he uses to make most or all of his decisions. For the workers of America, this kind of decision-making has been a disaster and he has shown himself to be just another right-wing Republican who holds ordinary people in contempt.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, “EPI research shows that between 1994 and today, the share of nonunion, private-sector employers who require their workers to sign forced arbitration agreements has increased from just 8 percent to 54 percent! That means that now, more than half of U.S. workers whose legal rights are violated by their employer are not able to pursue a claim in court. Further, research shows that 23.1 percent of private-sector nonunion employees, or 24.7 million American workers, no longer have the right to bring a class action claim if their employment rights have been violated. With yesterday's ruling, that number will go even higher.”

In many cases, especially workers in dangerous industrial operations, including the new exotic chemicals that are being produced and handled and introduced into the environment every day, some check on the power of the boss is needed. At one time, they did have an avenue to seek justice, but Gorsuch and the so-called conservative elements on the court have pretty much removed that avenue. Another right struck down and an increase in worker mortality on the job (think coal miners and their long, lingering deaths from black lung). You don't have to be on the job to be killed by the job.

A union in the workplace is one guarantee that workers will enjoy rights on the job, but the likes of Trump and Gorsuch and those of their kind who came long before them have been waging a war against those very workers' rights for longer than their living standards have been stagnant. There is a connection between the two. Obscene profits are not enough for the corporatists. They want power, as well, and not just some power, but most of the power in the workplace and elsewhere. Their “think tanks” and “news” outlets have been the instruments of waging the war against working people. For now, it will have to be enough that there are still unions and union contracts, but the numbers are daunting: Only about 11 percent of American workers are in unions and only about 6 percent of private sector workers are in unions.

The ability to bring a class-action lawsuit against an offending corporation was in some ways a (poor) replacement for a union and a contract, but it remained a possibility. With Gorsuch and his colleagues in the majority on the high court, employers have been given a green light in their march to gain complete control over the workforce by muting yet another right.

There is hope on the horizon, however. Teachers in some southern states, in the face of laws that prohibit strikes, have struck and the bosses (legislative and local) have moved to meet their demands. The nurses' unions have taken the lead in fighting for universal, single-payer health care and the people are moving in that direction (a majority favor it). And, young people are beginning to realize that they will be next in line to fight for their rights, in the workplace and in the nation at large, and particularly, in its political system that remains largely broken and corrupt. All of these people are moving, learning, and acting. They need wide support, if the nation is to break free of the death grip that the rich and Corporate America have on its legislative bodies, as well as on peoples' everyday lives.