New York, NY – The head of the largest property service workers union in United States is calling Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court a “slap in the face to all women and a threat to all working families.” And he’s not alone.
Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ SEIU, made the warning in a statement released over the weekend. In it, the influential New York City-based labor leader said Kavanaugh “lied repeatedly to the American people” while “loudly and strongly standing up for corporations and against working people.”
“Brett Kavanaugh has made his disrespect for women, his political agenda and his lack of temperament crystal clear over the last week,” Figueroa said. “But what is just as disturbing is his record on the bench over the last couple decades. Brett Kavanaugh will be a vote in favor of the wealthy and powerful and could support rulings that take away our unions, leave millions without healthcare and limit who can vote.”
AFl-CIO President Richard Trumka also sounded similar warnings in a speech delivered this past weekend at Kavanaugh’s own alma mater — Yale Law School.
“The threat to the rights of working people posed by the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh cannot be overstated,” Trumka said. “His confirmation would potentially lock-in the pro-corporate tilt of the [U.S. Supreme] Court for a generation. Despite the assurances he has given the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, Judge Kavanaugh is anything but a neutral. He has been a devoted champion of corporate interests throughout his career.”
Brett Kavanaugh will be a vote in favor of the wealthy and powerful and could support rulings that take away our unions, leave millions without healthcare and limit who can vote. — 32BJ SEIU President Hector Figueroa
In a column penned last month, Leo Gerard head of the 860,294-strong United Steelworkers union, said Kavanaugh’s obvious disdain for working people should have disqualified him from the highest court in the land.
“In his statement to Congress during confirmation hearings, Judge Brett Kavanaugh said his mother taught him judges must always stand in the shoes of others. Though hardly original or deeply inspirational, it’s not bad advice,” Gerard wrote. “The problem is that Kavanaugh never chooses steel-toed work boots. In every case involving workers, Kavanaugh has put himself instead in the wingtips of CEOs.”
Kavanaugh may not be home free, however. As swift as his confirmation has come, so have calls for his immediate impeachment on grounds that, in addition to allegedly sexually assaulting Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and at least two other women, the privileged Ivy Leaguer could have committed perjury during his Senate testimony.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a statement saying that the voices of the millions of people who spoke out in opposition to Kavanaugh’s confirmation must not be lost.
“We will only grow louder and stronger in our fight for equality, a woman’s right to choose, for families who come to this country for a better life, and for every person this administration tries to stifle,” the comptroller said. Our democracy depends on it.”
Council Member Jumaane Williams [D-45th District] issued a statement saying, in part, “This confirmation was about power and privilege, and the perverse desire to maintain those at all costs. It was done not in spite of clear disastrous consequences for women, people of more color, immigrants, LGBT individuals, and so many who have been targeted by hate and bigotry, but because of them.”
Figueroa concluded his statement with an eye on the midterm elections, which could see the Republican Party lose control of the House.
“Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation shows that those in power only care about protecting their own power; even if it means lying, ignoring sexual assault and degrading women,” Figueroa said. “Voters will have the last say on November 6.”
