By Irwin W. Aronson 

In Pennsylvania, we the people hold the power to decide who sits on our Courts. That’s not a small thing—it’s one of the last and most important lines of defense between working people and unchecked corporate power. 

As a labor and employment lawyer, I’ve spent decades in courtrooms and administrative agencies fighting for workers—people injured on the job, fired without just cause, or denied the rights they fought hard to win through bargaining with employers. And while most people don’t engage fully with judicial retention elections on the ballot, for this election cycle, we must be deeply focused and vote yes on retention. If we lose these fair-minded jurists, we lose a vital part of that fight. 

In the current political climate, the stakes could not be higher. The kitchen table issues that affect every working family and the rights that workers have secured over the course of a century are on the chopping block—only now, they’re under attack in the Courts.  

Consider workers’ compensation. It’s meant to protect people who get hurt or sick while doing their jobs, while trying to earn a living. But we’ve watched that system get turned upside down, with legal challenges that shift blame onto workers themselves, turning a benefit into a burden. 

And then there’s collective bargaining, the backbone of workers’ rights. In a case that should alarm every union member and every worker who dreams of being protected by a Union Contract in our state, the City of Philadelphia recently asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to overturn an Act 111 (the police and firefighters collective bargaining law) arbitration award—even though the City itself had not only agreed to the arbitration process but agreed that it would be final and binding, and presented had presented all its evidence during the arbitration hearing before an arbitrator that they participated in choosing. Now they demand to reargue the entire case in Court, despite decades of settled law holding that Act 111 arbitration awards are the final word! That principle—that what’s been fairly decided stays decided—is now hanging by a thread, to be decided by the Justices of our Pennsylvania Supreme Court. 

Union voters have always made a difference in this State. They built this State. And now, once again, the difference will come down to whether union members participate and vote—in this case, to retain the Jurists who’ve upheld your rights —your rights at work, your voting rights, your right to free and fair elections, your right to a quality education for your kids, your right to access to health care, your right to safety on the job and in your home. 

We can’t afford to sit this one out. Union voters have always made a difference. Now we are compelled to do it again—by protecting our Courts by retaining jurists who protect the law that protects us. The choice is clear: vote YES to retain Justice; vote YES to retain Justices David Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty, Judge Michael Wojcik and Judge Phyllis Beck Dubrow. Protect the Courts that have protected you. 

Irwin Aronson is sought out for his experience in labor and employment law, employee benefit matters, governmental affairs and legislative drafting and analysis. Best known for his representation of large labor federations, Irwin is General Counsel to the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO and its local affiliated Central Labor Councils.