Delegates to the AFT convention approved a resolution aimed at helping state employee unions offset the negative impact that a string of U.S. Supreme Court decisions has had on their members. In recent years, the nation's highest court has handed down decisions that, among other things, prevent state employees from suing their employers for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

"These [court] decisions all directly affect state employees' rights to enforce laws that are enforceable in other employment relationships," the resolution points out. State employees must now rely on federal agencies to file suit to protect their rights under federal law, it notes.

Lee Jackson, president of the Kentucky Association of State Employees, said the Supreme Court's decision had led to cases alleging FLSA violations on the part of Kentucky state government being thrown out at both the state and circuit court levels. "We have 300 employees who have been left in the cold" as a result of the high court's ruling, he said.

The resolution asks that the AFT "work to enhance the ability of public employees to enforce their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and other federal laws." It also calls on the AFT to lobby for increased protections for state employees in state laws, and it urges the union to "support measures to help the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission improve their respective capacities to handle the increased number of legal actions brought by state employees."

"We must work to regain ground that it took years for the union to travel and a few days for [Supreme Court] justices to take away," Kansas Association of Public Employees president Betty Vines said from the convention floor.