Workers need COVID-19 relief, not anti-worker court nominee

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 29, 2020) — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued the following statement on Saturday:

A lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court demands a thoughtful, fair and deliberate process that honors “We the People.” Instead, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell completely reversing his position from 2016 and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham abandoning his promise to let the next president make the nomination, we are now in store for a sham from a Senate devoid of both rules and integrity.

Working families know the profound impact this jurist will have on generations to come. That’s why it’s so disappointing that President Donald Trump and the Senate Republican majority have conspired to rush through Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the highest court in the land. Judge Barrett’s record demonstrates a clear disdain for workers’ rights, and her confirmation would push the most corporate-friendly Supreme Court in history further into the pockets of the wealthy elite. Working people’s wages, health care, job safety, civil rights and freedom to form a union will all be undermined if she is confirmed. Judge Barrett is the wrong person at the wrong time.

Instead of orchestrating a Supreme Court power grab at breakneck speed, McConnell should schedule a vote on the HEROES Act so we can provide long-overdue COVID-19 relief to a country in crisis.

TAKE A STAND — The AFL-CIO is urging union members to call their U.S. senators at 1-866-832-1560 and urge them to reject Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination and instead to pass the HEROES Act.