The Supreme Court is a fundamental pillar of our democracy and exists to protect the rights and freedoms of everyone. However, the Supreme Court and our judicial system have become weapons of powerful, corporate interests to strip working people of their rights to organize, to be safe at work and to receive equal justice under the law.
For years, corporate interest groups have put millions of dollars into lobbying senators to confirm judges they know will do their bidding on the bench. Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee, is their latest choice. If confirmed to a lifetime seat on the court, he will tip the scales of justice even further against working Mainers in favor of the wealthy and powerful for decades.
Union members go to work every day, just like everyone else, to make sure our communities are safe, healthy and strong. We believe working people deserve the freedom that comes with a good job, quality health care and a secure retirement. But the powerful corporate interests behind Kavanaugh’s nomination don’t believe we deserve the same freedoms they do.
Everything we know about Kavanaugh’s record indicates he would not protect the rights of all Americans and instead use the power of the bench to support an extreme, pro-corporate agenda.
As a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh has been highly dismissive of workplace safety and worker rights. In SeaWorld of Florida v. Perez, he sided with a negligent employer who violated federal laws, knowingly putting employees in harm’s way and resulting in the preventable death of a worker who trained orcas — even after previous deaths had clearly demonstrated that additional precautions were needed.
In American Federation of Government Employees v. Gates, the court was asked to consider whether the Department of Defense could end collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of civilian employees. In his decision, Kavanaugh gutted the collective bargaining rights of federal workers and dismissed the need for protections even in dangerous workplaces.
In Miller v. Clinton, he sided with the State Department, which had admitted it fired a worker because of his age — a clear violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Working people cannot afford another justice who will put the interests of corporations and CEOs ahead of everyday Americans. Last term, the Supreme Court shamelessly ruled 5-4 against millions of working people in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, saying public sector employees do not have to pay “fair share” fees that cover the cost of collective bargaining.
The decision overturned a 40-year-old unanimous precedent set by the Abood vs. Detroit Board of Education decision, which held that non-union employees could be assessed fees to cover the costs of the representation they received by the union. This reversal threatens the freedom of working people to stand together in a strong union to win better wages, benefits and standards that benefit our communities.
The Janus case was a payoff in a years-long, multimillion-dollar investment by the same billionaire CEOs and corporate interests now pouring millions of dollars into a campaign to confirm Kavanaugh to the bench. Janus was just one of several attempts to use the highest court in the land as a tool to trample on the rights and freedoms of working people, and it won’t be the last.
We cannot allow wealthy CEOs and special interest groups to tighten their grip on the Supreme Court and exploit our nation’s courts to launch further attacks on working people. We need a justice who will protect the rights of all Americans, not just the wealthy and powerful. Sen. Susan Collins should oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
Rep. Michelle Dunphy, D-Old Town, is serving her second term in the Maine House. She serves as House chair of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee and is a member of the Labor, Commerce, Research & Economic Development Committee. She is also a member of CWA Local 1400.
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