Senators in Washington D.C. have begun hearings to consider Judge Brett Kavanaugh — nominated by President Donald Trump — for a lifetime appointment on the United States Supreme Court. While there is still no set date for the vote, it’s important that hard-working people know that Brett Kavanaugh has a long history of undermining unions and worker’s right in the name of supporting big corporations.
We’re asking everyone, union or not, to examine Kavanaugh’s record on these important issues. Once you do, you’ll see he is not a champion of working people. We must STOP Brett Kavanaugh from being selected for the Supreme Court. Please CALL YOUR MISSOURI SENATORS and tell them to VOTE NO on Brett Kavanaugh. It only takes a few minutes.
Sen. Claire McCaskill: (202)-224-6154
Sen. Roy Blunt: (202)-224-5721
Here are just a few examples of Brett Kavanaugh’s disastrous history of fighting against working people:
- Kavanaugh joined two other Republican-appointed judges in a unanimous 2012 ruling in favor of the Trump Organization, after company executives asked the National Labor Relations Boartd to throw out the results of a union election at Trump Plaza, arguing that support from politicians had introduced bias in the election. UFCW has frequently engaged with local elected officials about talking to workers in their districts about the benefits of joining a union. Kavanaugh believes this practice invalidates an election.
Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-dc-circuit/1600878.html - “Kavanaugh was one of three Republican-appointed judges who in 2012 voted unanimously to set aside an order by the National Labor Relations Board that would have required the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to bargain with the United Auto Workers.”
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-30/kavanaugh-sided-with-trump-casino-in-2012-to-thwart-union-drive - “Kavanaugh sided with the management of Sheldon Adelson’s Venetian Casino Resort, authoring a majority opinion upholding the casino’s First Amendment right to summon police to issue citations to union protesters trespassing on company property.”
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-30/kavanaugh-sided-with-trump-casino-in-2012-to-thwart-union-drive - Kavanaugh has also been a consistent enemy of collective bargaining rights. In a 2007 case, Kavanaugh and a colleague reversed a lower court’s decision siding with AFL-CIO and instead affirmed the Department of Defense’s discretion to negate the collective bargaining rights of employees.
Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-dc-circuit/1195458.html - Kavanaugh wrote a 2016 majority opinion overturning an NLRB ruling that allowed Verizon workers to display pro-union signs on company property despite having given up the right to picket in their collective bargaining agreement.
Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/15-1062/15-1062-2016-06-21.html - Kavanaugh wrote that undocumented workers didn’t count as employees under the National Labor Relations Act
Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-dc-circuit/1319922.html
Here’s what leaders in labor have said about Kavanaugh:
“My role as President of UFCW Local 655 is to make sure my member’s rights and all worker’s rights on the job are protected. Sometimes that means taking a position on a candidate or issue that directly impacts workers, and sometimes that means my members don’t agree with that position. Generally when members object to our support of a candidate, it is because that member feels strongly one way or another on that candidate’s position on something like the 2nd amendment or abortion rights. Clearly the easy thing to do would be to never make a recommendation to ensure I do not upset my members and my union family. But I believe that true leaders have an obligation to speak out for what we believe will help or hurt our union family. And you don’t need to look far too clearly understand that having Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court would be bad for workers. This is a person who ruled against union elections when local politicians endorsed organizing, and ruled against a union’s right to display union materials on the job. Just look at the history of Kavanaugh’s decisions about organized labor and you’ll see a history of putting corporations before people time and time again. In this time of disparity of wealth in America, when workers need more than ever to be able to stand together for better wages and benefits, we can ill afford to have Judge Kavanaugh voting against our rights.” – David Cook, President UFCW Local 655.
“Working people expect the Supreme Court to be the fairest and most independent branch of government in America. Any senator who believes Supreme Court justices should protect the rights of all Americans should reject this nomination and demand a nominee who will protect the rights of working people and uphold our constitutional values of liberty, equality and justice for all. Across the country, working people are organizing and taking collective action as we haven’t seen in years, and we won’t stand for any politician who supports justices who put our rights at risk.” – Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President
“Everything we know about Justice Kavanaugh’s record leads us to believe he would operate under a pro-corporation agenda over workers’ rights, over civil rights, and more.” – Lee Saunders, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
For even more information on Kavanaugh’s long and dangerous record attacking the working class, click HERE
